Myths About Counseling
- I am uncomfortable telling a stranger about my private matters. Why should I tell a counselor?
The counseling process is confidential to the extent that the law allows. Most counselors are not interested in client’s private matters unless it is relevant to the treatment objectives. Research about confiding personal information to others clearly shows that a psychological and even health benefit to the person
Disclosing takes place.
- Does going to counseling mean that I am “crazy” or psychologically defective?
While some people who enter counseling may have psychotic experiences the vast majority of people are very normal but have simply had challenges beyond their coping abilities. Marriage counseling and therapy for people who have been raped, sexually abused or had other traumas are often high functioning people who simply need help for issues for which they are ill prepared.
- Why should I go to counseling for advice? I think everyone should solve their own problems.
Although providing advice may be a part of counseling in some cases, it is not central to most counseling processes. Providing support and assisting people to find their own answers are more likely to take place. If a person has been able to resolve their own problems, counseling may not be necessary. However, if these problems are not getting resolved good counseling may save their lives, their marriages or their peace of mind. - Why should I spend so much money on counseling when I could just tell a friend my problems?
If telling a friend actually relieves the problem long-term, counseling may not be necessary. However, if the problems continue to go unresolved, what price can you place on your happiness? If we are willing to pay a doctor for our physically health we should be willing to pay a counselor to acquire our psychological health.
- Do I need to explore my childhood if I go to counseling?
Decades ago when psychoanalysis was the only form of counseling, exploring one’s childhood was the only focus. Today’s counselors largely focus on present day issues in which childhood issues may or may not be relevant. - Why would I need to go to counseling when my doctor gave me antidepressants or other medication for what bothers me?
While medications can reduce symptoms for some people, pills do not teach you how to learn from your mistakes, how to regulate your emotions better or how to resolve distress without creating a dependency on the remedy. Counseling can help people to find and use your own inner resources to resolve problems with or without drug supplementation. You don’t have to take pills to change brain chemistry. - How can counseling help if my emotional distress is genetic?
Recent genetic researchers have found that genes are subject to being turned on or off my appropriate interpersonal influence. Proper counseling can potentially change the expression of genes. Therefore, most forms of emotional distress can be impacted by modern counseling processes. - Why should I try counseling if I don’t think anything will work for me?
The majority of people who come into counseling are hopeless and do not see an answer but research finds that the majority of participants find resolutions. Emotional distress often leads to hopeless thinking. People tend to see things quite differently when their happiness is restored. Just because you may not believe counseling can help does not mean it is factually accurate.
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