Addressing mental health and wellbeing especially in a country like India can be tricky. God forbid you utter the forbidden T- word! What will people say!?!?
In India, it is not uncommon to hear things like "Therapy is for crazy people", "Therapy is for people who don’t have friends" or "Therapy is for people who are weak".
Let’s get one thing out of the way. Therapy is for everyone. Just like ice cream is for everyone!
We get our annual health check up without any reluctance (even when we feel perfectly fine), yet the thought of visiting a therapist is almost blasphemous!
What’s more is that most people don’t even know what therapy is and what to expect from it!
Let’s deconstruct therapy and understand what the point of therapy is!
What is therapy?
Therapy is the process of meeting with a therapist to recognise, address and resolve problematic behaviours, beliefs, feelings, relationship issues, and self destructive impulses that have a negative impact on your life.
Therapy provides a non-judgmental environment in which you can feel connected, supported, and understood. You will quickly learn that, despite your concerns, you are not alone and you will have a partner in your efforts to overcome whatever situation or condition may have brought you into treatment.
Therapy is a lifestyle where you choose to prioritise your wellbeing and transform yourself into the best version you can be.
What do you do in therapy?
The process of therapy is unique to the individual and their situation. However, across all formats of therapy, you will establish a goal you would like to achieve. With the guidance of your therapist or through a self-therapy guide, you will learn to use various tools to help understand who you are, why you feel the way you do and ultimately chart out a plan of action to attain your goal.
What can I expect in my first therapy session?
Contrary to the common belief, you will not have to spill your heart out in your very first session!
You’ll most likely spend the first part of your therapy session getting to know one another and understanding each other’s expectations.
Your therapist will need to know why you’re seeking therapy. They may ask what kinds of needs or issues you’d like to address in your treatment together as well as what you’ve done to manage your mental health in the past. They’ll want to talk through what worked and what didn’t to get an understanding of how best to help you.
They may use a formal, structured interview, or it may just feel like a more free-flowing conversation.
Most likely, you’ll find yourself talking about your current symptoms or struggles, as well talking a bit about your relationships, your interests, your strengths, and your goals.
What is Self Therapy?
Starting therapy can be an intimidating for some people. A way to ease into therapy can be by way of self help therapies. These are guided therapy exercises that you can perform at your own pace by yourself. Self therapy is particularly useful to deal with problems like stress, loneliness, anxiety and depression.
The Happiness Project
The Happiness Project helps you take a break from the world of likes, shares and forwards, it urges you to disconnect from the chaos in your world and pushes you to take a moment to understand and prioritise the wellbeing of the most important person in your life - YOU!
The Happiness Project equips you with a wide array of tools right from daily happiness workouts and self therapy modules all the way to helping you choose the right therapist for your unique wellbeing journey.
Go on, make your wellbeing a priority!