Advantages of Therapy

Situation: Mr. A had trouble expressing his thoughts and feelings, so he internalized them until he would shut down emotionally.

Solution: Together, we addressed some intrinsic coping strategies such as journal writing, relaxation exercises, and identifying feelings, and extrinsic coping techniques such as self care behavior, exercise routine, utilizing his support system, reflecting feelings, and assertive communication .

Result: As Mr. A began to identify and cope with his emotions with the newly acquired intrinsic and extrinsic coping strategies, he reported a reduction in the frequency of the emotional distress and safer ways to release his feelings.

Situation: Ms. B sought help to cope with her depression, anxiety, and fear.

Solution: Through a collaborative effort, we identified the underlying maladaptive thoughts, feelings, behavior, perceptions, and attitudes that interrupted her daily life.

Result: Within a brief time, Ms. B began to report positive changes and emotional relief with the practice of newly learned strategies of thinking, positive self talk; control over her thoughts and feelings, and plan of exposure to her fears.

Situation: Ms. C reported feeling depressed and worried. This affected her ability to think rationally and make healthy decisions or choices for herself.

Solution: We discovered the emotions, underlying triggers, and distorted thinking patterns that contributed to the issue. The therapist helped, Ms. C with the Steps for Decision Making: isolate the problem, decision to take action, gather resources, make a plan, visualize her plan of action, and finally take action. Rational Thinking strategies such as Self-Talk and Reframing helped her stay in control over her emotions.

Result: As Ms. C practiced her new found emotional, cognitive processing, and decision making skills through therapy, she confidently continued to make healthier choices and decisions for herself.

Situation: Mr. D talked about his stress and how that impacted his health through experiencing stomach problems, headaches, and backaches.

Solution: We focused on how Mr. D could incorporate three approaches for coping with his stress: 1. Self Care: adequate diet, sleep, exercise, relaxation techniques, and self hygiene. 2. Self Control: take responsibility for his reactions in the situation. 3. Situational Control: problem solving, assertiveness, conflict resolution, and time-management. We also discussed techniques to monitor improvement of his health with the help of medical experts.

Result: Mr. D's ongoing efforts to implement the changes related to managing his stress improved his emotional and physical health.

Situation: Mr. E shared his work concerns during counseling. He felt overwhelmed, worried, defensive, and out of control over his thoughts and actions.

Solution: After understanding Mr. E's situation, we discovered the underlying problems impacting his effectiveness at work. For example, Mr. E subconsciously allowed his work complexities to control his thoughts, feelings, and actions. We addressed these thoughts, feelings, and behavior patterns through cognitive-behavior therapy.

Result: The practice of reframing, thought stopping, and self-talk techniques made Mr. E more conscientious of his thought patterns. He realized that he was now in charge of his emotions and gained control over his thoughts and actions. These techniques helped him stay focused on himself and become more productive at work.

Situation: Mr. J was very stressed about the economic downturn and its impact on his job and finances. This caused him to worry, loose weight, and unable to sleep.

Solution: The therapist talked about how the mind plays a powerful role in mental health. Explained how the cognitions or mental processes have a strong influence, positive or negative, on the physical and emotional reactions to stress. She also addressed the cognitive restructuring technique as an important intervention. We identified five aspects of mental processes that create stress: 1. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 2. Mental Imagery 3. Self Talk 4. Controlling and Perfectionistic Behavior 5. Anger. We worked on self care behavior, relaxation tools, and leisure activities he could implement to lead a more balanced life.

Result: Mr. J was proud of his progress made in therapy. He allowed the stress management techniques to enable him to accomplish his goal of being resilient under pressure and meet new challenges by staying in control of himself.

Situation: Mr. K struggled to manage his anger. He was verbally abusive, irritable, easily triggered, and broke things during the rage. He felt guilty of his actions.

Solution: Our sessions helped Mr. K to understand his anger, cope, take responsibility, manage his emotions, and how to let go of his anger.

Result: Through the anger management sessions, Mr. K learned healthier ways to cope with his anger. He also realized that he was now is control of his anger rather than his anger controlling him.

Situation: Mr. and Mrs. Z sought marriage counseling to relieve that tension, resentment, and lack of open communication in their troubled relationship.

Solution: We identified the underlying pressures and feelings in their relationship such as doubt, lack of trust, respect, work and family stress. We emphasized effective communication skills such as "I" statements, active listening, reflective responding, and ways to say "no" without guilty feelings.

Outcome: As Mr. and Mrs. Z's relationship under currents surfaced and they processed them during counseling, they became understanding and accepting of each other. They also accounted the learned effective communication skills as beneficial to their relationship.