What's the point of Psycho Therapy and Similar Stuff

Psychotherapy, treatment, counseling... group therapy...

What's the point?

To treat to cure and heal or to teach to cope?

Do people really ever get better?  Or do they just get medicated? 

At least they usually aren't warehoused anymore!

but really, what's the point of treatment?  Is it worth the money or can people just fix themselves by bucking up?

I used to think people could just fix themselves - if they really WANTED to...but then I went through a divorce which I wanted and even though I told myself I was fine, even though I never missed a day of work, even though I was going through the motions, I lost weight at an alarming rate, I started to menstrate and didn't stop for 3 weeks straight, my hair started to fall out....no matter how determined I was to not fall apart - I did a bit and am not ashamed to say I went and got help and got better!! 

Also, today, I saw a homeless man - about 30 or so, standing on the street corner, downtown Edmonton, minus 5 plus windchill - in barefeet on the edge of the sidewalk with his eyes closed, facing into the sun...perhaps there wasn't anything wrong with him...yet, I rather think there was - he didn't belong in the streets with no home and no proper clothing in his barefeet - more than likely he has a disorder and has chosen to try to buck up rather than take much needed meds - can you imagine if this were your brother, your father, your uncle???  Like anything - some people abuse and are attention seekers for no other reason than they need attention, but others need it all the time, like that man - some of us need it to get through a bad time - like I did.  :) 

Take good care!!

Ahh... counselling...

Personally, I'm a fan of counselling. I think it does a soul good every now and again to go DUMP into the lap of someone who won't judge and who won't air your problems for you. For some people, bucking up, giving their heads a shake and moving on is the right thing to do. For other people, it's not that easy.

Most therapies don't lead to medications. There's only a select group of doctors who can prescribe drugs to cure what ails ya. This means that in most cases, you're using your therapist to sort stuff out.

The only problem with counselling is that we are NEVER fixed. We all have a story and a past. One minute you're managing with your triggers, the next, you discover you have a whole set of triggers you never knew existed. Alas... but since therapy was never intended to erase your pain, but to provide you with the tools to manage it a little better, I think it's a good thing.

Counseling helps people, makes other people worse.  For me it made it worse, I think it was mostly the stigma of someone telling you that you're messed up (in so many words).

It took 2 years of weekly psychotherapy for me to realize the underlying problems that were keeping me from coping during a period of very high stress.  I felt that my life was being taken over by my family situation and that I had no control over what was happening.  I learned that, while I can't control life's happenings, I can control how I deal with it.  I learned to say no to demanding family members and to stand up for myself.  I learned that I'm worthy of respect and love.  I would reccomend it to anyone who is going through a crisis or who has trouble dealing with life's situations. 

Yes I'm completely better and it didn't take drugs to do it either.  My life is much improved.  Things have recently gotten even more stressful, but I'm dealing with it and no longer lose sleep, have anxiety attacks and spend time crying over things.  I just deal with it.

For people with serious mental disease, it takes a lot more than talk therapy.  It takes medication and guidance, and intense therapy for these people to learn to manage their diseases.

cmillington, it's like peeling away layers until you get to the core.  That's why it takes so long.

It's a shame that there such misunderstanding. 

I may be a little biased considering I am working towards my masters in psychology, but there very little to no negative side-effects to therapy.

Not a lot of people can just "buck-up" or they would. Even stating that someone should just "buck-up" is putting a very negative spin on therapy. If its not for you, then great... but you shouldn't pass judgement on people that need and seek professional help.

holy cow babydeer.... i'm not putting a negative spin on anything!  I'm just curious and asked a question.  What's the goal of treatment/counseling? 

Seems a lot of people around here frequently suggest that people go get treatment for whatever reason.  Why?  :\ 

Why can't people use support like they get here, research and learn information and achieve the same results?  Isn't that what a lot of people try to do?  Self-medicate, rationalize, try every fad diet that crosses their paths?

Not passing judgment at all.  Just asking what's the point of therapy?  To cure or to teach people to cope? 

Have you tried to research something on the internet? There is a staggering amount of information, a lot of which is not even close to being right for the person. A therapist knows about your history, family history, fears, goals, ect...

I haven't heard of people going to a therapist about lossing weight, unless they are anorexic, which does need proffessional help. Or have another clinically recognized eating disorder. Rationalizing isn't good for you either, its avoiding the truth, which we should all know is not beneficial!

There is no such thing as "curing" something that is a mental problem *unless its a chemical problem*. Therapists give their clients useful tools and insights into themselves so that they can make the right choices, think positively, and move their life forward. It may seem easy enough to do on your own if you've never suffered from depression or other personality disorders, but for someone that is trapped into negative thinking or clinically depessed, its not so easy.

Also just having someone that is outside of your circle of friends, family and social support can help as they can give a completely unbiased view on the problem or issue. A lot of people do not feel 100% comfortable sharing all their private information over a website such as this, because the internet is not a safe, nor private place. Anything and everything that is said can be read by anyone.

I'm so glad you wrote this and you're questioning the point of therapy. I've spent my whole adult life trying to get to "normal" and I'm finally (at nearly 28) seeing the value in being me. I've had good therapists, I've read everything from the Buddhist masters to Jungian therapy, found God, lost God, found Prozac, quit Prozac, participated in Al-Anon for two years... As for people getting better, I can't say. I feel better, definitely, and it's from getting older and accepting myself as how I am. I also have had the great fortune to be with wonderful people who inspire me to be my best and accept me at my worst. My husband is a very soulful guy who is courageous, and I think has made a signifigant difference in my life, knowing that he is here. There are bad days and good days. One book that made a difference:

Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl. He's a psychologist who survived the Holocaust and he details his observations on the nature of man in (obviously) dire circumstances. The best thing I got out of it was that nobody suffers more than another - we all suffer - a condition of life. That was good to hear. He has some wonderful stories in this book that touched me and made me reconsider my way of living and dealing. I do not have good coping skills but I try.

As for bucking up - if you're going through some tough times, you're not alone. Share it - there are lots of free groups, anonymous, where you can let it go and feel some fellowship. If this is depression, please know that the brain is just like the rest of the body - it gets ill. It's common.

Thank you for writing your post. It's valid.

Psychology works if you are open to it and you allow it to work -- heck, it's even possible for it to work if you aren't cooperative -- it's just harder.

I think some people CAN help themselves; some can't -- A LOT can't -- and so they NEED to pay someone else to help them. Sure some needs drugs, some don't. Some WANT drugs only and don't want therapy. That CAN work but the best thing is to work with a combination of the two.

BOTTOM LINE:

"Treat to cure and heal" -- YES, for some.
"Teach to cope" -- YES, for some.
YES, they get better! SOMETIMES they just get medicated.

It's comparable to having lawyers for our legal issues and doctors when we're ill, and plumbers when our toilet's clogged. We have therapists when we have mental issues! Simple as that! We have all of these specialties because we can't possibly do all of that stuff OURSELVES! :)

P.S. It's a fact that sometimes you get worse before you get better. You are dredging things up that need to be resolved and it hurts. But you are truely NOT getting worse. If you leave all of that stuff deep down inside of you to fester, and don't talk about it and/or solve it, it comes out in other ways and makes you sick!

Different things work for different people.

I have dysthymic clinical depression with periods of major depression and other problems such as mild bulimia, self-harm etc yet I turned down psychiatric assessment after I was caught planning my suicide because I knew that talking to a completely impartial stranger who didn't really give a fuck about how I was feeling from one minute to the next wouldn't help me.

I help myself.

Most people cannot though. The types of things which counsellors deal with - alcohol, drugs, depression, eating disorders etc - are crippling. Most people don't have the strength (and that's not a flaw on them) to deal with it by themselves and counsellors / psychiatrists help them to do that. Sometimes it's actually embarrasing, and they don't want to talk to someone in their family because they will judge them more and what not.

Just had to comment...so here's my opinion.  And we all have a right to our own opinions, opinions are not right or wrong!  I've gone to counseling and it helped, did it make me instantly better, nope, I had to work on myself for that. 

I'm not big on meds for myself and only tried it once for 2 months, it wasn't for me.  But for my niece who has bi-polar, ADHD, possibly PTSD, and maybe a little obsessive compulsive...well, for her, she cannot cope as we normally do...it would be best for her to continually seek counseling & meds.

And what about someone who as a child, maybe 5 yrs old til she was a teen, was sexually molested and forced to have intercourse with her father...how does someone just deal with it without counseling?  I don't think I could do it without professional help...that delicate child inside was injured.

And for those w/eating disorders on this site and all over, there are underlying issues that cause the eating disorder, and those psychological issues need worked on before they permenantly damage their body.

With all that said, I think counseling is needed.  Not everyone can find the right counselor the first try, different people fit with different counselors.  There's a trust issue there.

We live in a fallen world and things just seem to get messier as the years go on.  The poor kids growing up today have so much crap to face and deal with, not just broken marriages and blended families, there is so much more peer pressure, and so much exposure to bad things through the media. If you already have some issues, how do you sort all this stuff out.

Talking from experience though, it takes lots of time to fix yourself and I still continue to do so, forever working on improving myself and the dysfunctional crap I learned growing up. 

csthomas -- man's search for meaning changed my life.

i went to counseling for well over a year. i was in one-on-one counseling and also group therapy. i dealt with depression and loneliness. my doctor and i decided that i would not take any meds, and simply find ways to work through what i was going through (i lost the man who i wanted to walk me down the aisle to brain cancer, among a lot of other little problems that added up to be too much for me to deal with on my own).

i think that with counseling, like life or anything else we do, we get out of it what we put in. the first few times i went to counseling, it was because i felt like hurting myself, but i didn't want to talk once i got there. after a while, my counselor told me that if i wasn't going to take the experience seriously, i was wasting my time. and so i did. we talked through things, and he gave me mini "assignments" (like meditating on the most benign objects as a way to clear my mind when i get really stressed or talking to someone new every day when i'm lonely or taking my cellphone to the park to make that call home so that i can't lose my cool because i'd be in public). i went, and gave it my all, and in return i got tools for how to improve my life and make myself better.

Personally for me the best therapy was "finding myself" and looking for answers inside of me.  That included a lot of reading and research etc.  But I've always been that kind of a person.  I don't trust what others say without weighing it for myself.  Now I studied psychology for awhile in college and some of it made sense, but other parts I found to be too clinical put everyone in a little box with a nice tidy label and I don't think that can work.  We are complex and individual so trying to "diagnose" someone as this or that to me seems irrational.  It's also one of the problems I have with modern medicine, doctors pass out pills without really knowing the history/background of their patients.  They here a few symptoms and place them in their little clinical box. "we have a pill for that" ... whatever a lot of "diseases" don't need medicine they need education and lifestyle changes.  I feel its the same with certain mental disorders people need to learn how to manage their thoughts/emotions not take a "happy pill" to numb themselves.  I've had bouts of depression and anxiety all my life too and have been to therapists in the past.  This is the conclusion I reached based on my own experiences.

  No one can know all of your background but you.  Sure others can lend insight, but no one knows you like you.  Personal Mastery is a soul purpose.   I believe we come here to learn and grow through things and until we take ownership and personal accountability for ourselves we'll always feel something is missing etc.  I believe depression/anxiety are more syptomatic than diseases in and off themselves.   Im not saying we shouldn't lean on others for support, but as for a "cure" no one can cure you but you because no one knows you like you know yourself.  Often times I think depression and anxiety come from not knowing ourselves well enough.

Just my .02

roxanned-- Some schizophrenics do that stuff (the man outside with no shoes)... they don't really register the temperature. You have some who will be wearing winter clothes when it's 95 degrees outside and some who wear nothing in the winter and snow is on the ground.

need2lose...
As someone who has worked in various areas of mental health... people can't just fix themselves most of the time. There are disorders and diseases that need to be regulated with medication. If someone is hearing voices and seeing hallucinations, you can't just tell them to snap out of it. There are medical reasons behind this and medication is usually the only way to fix it. If you're talking about someone who is depressed, going to someone to talk (i.e. counselor) can sometimes help a lot.. others need medication. There are things you can do (like exercise) that can help counteract some of the severity of the depression but typically, people need to seek professional help if it's more than just a very very mild depression.

You were really vague in your question. Some people believe psychiatry/psychology/counseling is a load of bollocks and I've had debates with people like that. And all I can say is until you work in the mental health field and see people getting better through therapy and medications, then you really can't say a whole lot about it.

roxanned-- Some schizophrenics do that stuff (the man outside with no shoes)... they don't really register the temperature. You have some who will be wearing winter clothes when it's 95 degrees outside and some who wear nothing in the winter and snow is on the ground.

need2lose...
As someone who has worked in various areas of mental health... people can't just fix themselves most of the time. There are disorders and diseases that need to be regulated with medication. If someone is hearing voices and seeing hallucinations, you can't just tell them to snap out of it. There are medical reasons behind this and medication is usually the only way to fix it. If you're talking about someone who is depressed, going to someone to talk (i.e. counselor) can sometimes help a lot.. others need medication. There are things you can do (like exercise) that can help counteract some of the severity of the depression but typically, people need to seek professional help if it's more than just a very very mild depression.

You were really vague in your question. Some people believe psychiatry/psychology/counseling is a load of bollocks and I've had debates with people like that. And all I can say is until you work in the mental health field and see people getting better through therapy and medications, then you really can't say a whole lot about it.

Perhaps I was a bit vague, because I'm just curious.  It's suggested a lot around here and so I wonder why it's suggested?  What can it do for people?  What's the point?  To cure people or to teach them to cope.  I'm not knocking anything or even expressing any opinion about it whatsoever.  Not even personally considering it.  Just kind of wondering why it's suggested so much like it's a cure all...

It's suggested alot around here because, on this site, we tend to get alot of posts from potential Anorexics or Bulimics.  These people need help, need2lose, and Anorexia and Bulimia are both MENTAL diseases, affecting the way we THINK about food and ourselves. That's why we suggest that people see mental health specialists, because it's a mental health issue and we trust specialists to be able to help people with that issue.

ali - I took care of a schizophrenic friend of mine for 6 months and helped her to get on social security benefits...3 months living w/me and 3 months helping her at her own place w/help from a great center that she had her own social worker helping her.  It was unbelievable.  If you have never experienced someone like this firsthand, it is so difficult to understand.  I thought I was going to end up in a psych ward just trying to deal with helping her.  Luckily, I knew it was only temporary until she got the help she needed, but I actually stress ate and put on some pounds then.

need2lose - I think why it is stressed here so much is that ED's are serious...pain that the person is dealing with goes deep and it's many times psychological, not because they think they need to lose weight.  ED's are a source of control in a persons life when they feel out of control inside.  We, as humans, many of us bury our pain and deal with it in destructive manners that harm our bodies...counseling is a source to bring that pain forward, process it, and eventually heal.  People don't always know how to do it on their own.  That's my take on it.  Does it cure people, maybe not, but it can help them move forward and work toward healing.  If they have an ED it will probably be an issue inside them for the rest of their lives, but learning to cope with our problems helps us to enjoy our lives more.

It depends on the school of counselling you choose really. Personally i'm all for Person-Centred and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. I don't much go for Psychotherapy - its a bit long winded and a little too therapist-oriented IMO.

Its more useful for changing behaviour patterns that can lead to eating disorders and the like (when discussing it in a diet-type sense), many people gain weight through mental illness (i.e. depression) so counselling is good for that, its gets to the source not the symptoms like drugs (which are only really useful to take the edge off or for chemical inbalances).

But i really feel counselling is the way forward (and it puts me in a job!!) but many people struggle to find support networks within their family and friends for many reasons and sometimes a stranger, a proffessional can help. Even just to have someone to make sense of jumbled thoughts.

i will simply say one thing about this: if you've never had to deal with it, only heard about it, then you don't know what it's really like. I'm all for psychotherapy. and sometimes,t hat includes medication.