Psychotherapy

What is psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is one of those things that is hard to describe -- it is better experienced. It is a process that involves examining present symptoms and behaviors and gaining insight into how these symptoms and behaviors came to be, how they are affecting your present life and how you can help yourself to feel better.

While there are hundreds of methods of psychotherapy, many of the methods share the following approaches.

• We examine your childhood and other past experiences.
  
  
• We look closely at the family you grew up in.
  
  
• We look at how your past experiences are impacting your present behaviors.
  
  
• You get in touch with feelings that you may not be facing.
  
  
• We look for ways that you may be sabotaging yourself.
  
  
• We look at erroneous thinking.
  
  
• You realize that you have choices.
  

You will know it is working when you begin to feel clearer, saner, more hopeful, more decisive, more energetic and you notice the symptoms you came in for are significantly improving.

Benefits of Psychotherapy

Many of my clients report various changes in their thinking and behaving. Below are some examples of realizations that clients have had during therapy.

• I feel better when I allow myself to feel all my feelings instead of hide from them.
  
  
• I have flaws like everyone. By embracing them, I take away their power to steal the beauty I possess.
  
  
• I have strengths like everyone. By celebrating them, I empower my abilities to their full potential.
  
  
• I realize how futile it is to worry about the things I cannot change.
  
  
• I am unique. No one is like me. That makes me priceless and incredibly valuable.
  
  
• I deserve to be happy as my true self. By masking my happiness, letting others decide my happiness for me, or by failing to identify the things that make me happy, I am hurting not only myself, but those around me.
  
  
• I am not responsible for anyone's happiness but my own and while I want others to be happy and can be kind in my actions and deeds towards them, really only they can bring about their happiness.
  
  
• I cannot control anyone but myself. No one can control me, if I do not allow them to.
  
  
• Any relationship is a two way street. I should always be getting as much as I am giving. It may not always be equal, but it should be mutual.
  
  
• The answers to most of my problems are inside of me.
  
  
• Learning to really listen to the people in my life, to get into their world goes a long way to building wonderful relationships.
  
  
• My feelings, fears, and insecurities are normal human emotions. It is what I chose to do as a result of them that matters.
  
  
• When I worry about the past or fret about the future, I have no energy left to enjoy the present moment.
  
  
• My past is behind me. That is why it is called the past. My future is ahead of me and I can work everyday to make it good. Today is called the present and it I can choose to enjoy it.