What happens in therapy?
People often wonder what happens when a person comes for psychological therapy or counselling.
This fear of the unknown causes many people to avoid therapy, or feel very anxious when arriving at therapy for the first time. It is a great relief to many patients that most forms of therapy are a gentle process, where patients are not expected to do anything strange other than talk.
Most therapists will ask introductory and guiding questions to get this conversation going in the right direction and to make early assessments. However, for the most part, therapy is an opportunity for patients to talk about at their own pace about issues that they feel are important.
Of course, this can be an emotional process.
However, therapists are trained to contain and hold these emotions for patients, creating a space which is non-judgemental and safe.
Therapy is therefore not only advisable for people diagnosed with psychological disorders, but also people experiencing general difficulties, questions and complicated emotions in their lives. Therapy can be a space for trying to make sense of life and things that happen within it.
