What is counseling or therapy?
You might see ads all over your social media or in between episodes on your streaming service. But for a number of reasons, you may not have ever been or considered going to therapy yourself.
Why do people see a counselor or therapist?
If you ever feel overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, or confused, and struggle to figure out ways to cope with and move past these feelings, you’ve likely felt stuck and frustrated. At times, you may have had a challenging situation, a relationship issue, a change in your life, and not have known where to turn because you don’t want to talk with your family and friends.
If this feels familiar to you, you likely could benefit from talking with a trained professional.
What exactly is counseling or therapy? What’s the difference?
Counseling or therapy refers to talking to someone about concerns such as the ones mentioned above, or anything else. This is a space to process your thoughts, feelings, and life experiences. What’s the point of doing this? In talking through things with someone trained in ways to listen for themes and patterns and ways to help you think and feel differently, many people end up better understanding themselves and what to do when they’re feeling stuck, lost, confused, or hopeless.
Counseling or therapy can occur between you and a therapist one-on-one, with a partner in couples therapy, with family members in family therapy, or in group therapy with other peers who may be struggling with concerns very similar to your own. What type of therapy you might best benefit from depends on your interests, needs, and goals.
Some consider “counseling” as more of a process of getting support, validation, and maybe some guidance on ways to move forward from their concerns. Others consider “therapy” as a space where you and your therapist are actively creating change in your sessions (much like other services like physical therapy, massage therapy).
So how does it all work?
As a default, counseling or therapy offers a nonjudgmental and supportive space to process your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. You can learn to understand the relationship between your past and your present feelings, and understand how much of your emotions and patterns today are about the past and how much is about what’s happening today so you can learn to heal from your past and respond to the pain today in a more helpful way.
There are various approaches counselors and therapists use in therapy, and some are more talk-based (cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)), whereas others work more directly with the body and non-verbal parts of the brain (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), brainspotting (BSP), and somatic experiencing (SE)). Some people choose to seek out therapists with specific training in one of these areas, and talking with a counselor or therapist during a free consultation call can help you determine the best approach for what your goals for change would be.
Who can benefit from counseling or therapy?
Research shows that most people benefit from counseling or therapy, regardless of age, gender, or cultural background. Common reasons people seek counseling or therapy include:
Various mental health concerns: depression, anxiety, substance misuse, eating behaviors and body image stressors
Relationship concerns: isolation and loneliness, communication challenges, conflict, infidelity
Life changes: the loss of a loved one, a career change, or a major life transition like starting college/moving somewhere new/becoming a parent
Stress and anxiety: feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, perfectionism, pressures from family/friends/work
Trauma and abuse: something difficult happened one time or over and over, nightmares and flashbacks
Contrary to some common misconceptions, therapy is not paying someone to be your friend, and it is not something people are meant to be in for the rest of their lives. The goal of therapy is to help you get relief from your concerns, figure out how to create change, and learn to cope effectively and quickly so that you feel confident knowing how to help yourself, as well as when you don’t have to try to feel better on your own. Many people come in and out of therapy as needed in life, or after doing a round of consistent weekly therapy they move to meeting with a therapist once a month or every few months.
It’s important to search for a trained and licensed therapist to make sure you receive the best possible care.
Interested in the potential of working together?
(Oregon & Washington residents only)
About the author
Amanda Buduris is a licensed psychologist providing virtual therapy services in Oregon and Washington. She is trained in multiple modalities of trauma-focused healing to best support clients who are looking to feel better faster.
