Real Talk: What Does Counseling Actually Do?

Counseling is being talked about more and more these days, though you may be wondering what it can actually do for you. That is a valid question. Therapy requires your time and energy, which is limited for most of us. If you are going to devote your limited resources it’s natural to want a return on your investment. Investing in yourself is almost always going to have payoffs, though what and how much will largely depend on you. 

What is Counseling? 

Counseling or therapy, two different words used to describe the same thing, is about you and your needs. Most seek therapy because they are not feeling like themselves, have experienced something traumatic or want help processing something that is keeping them from functioning at their best. These are a few of the motivators for starting counseling, though there are many more. 

Therapy is a safe place where you can explore what is going on for you and set your own goals. It’s about you and your process. In counseling you can focus on your personal growth. Many come to counseling after being pushed to by others, this doesn’t mean you won’t be successful in therapy, but if you aren’t motivated to make your own change it’s unlikely much will happen. 

Therapy is a personal process and you get what you put into it. This may sound like a vague description and that is purposeful. Therapy is many things, but most of all it’s personalized to you and what you need. If you ask ten different people what therapy is like you’ll likely get ten different answers, which is a wonderful thing.  

What Can You Get Out of Counseling?

Much like what was said in describing therapy, the same can be said for what you can get out of counseling. It is highly focused on you so what you get out of it will depend on you. Therapy isn’t something that happens to you, your participation and motivation for change is what makes it work. Having a licensed therapist, no matter how skilled they are, working with you for an hour won’t make any difference if you aren’t putting it into practice in between sessions. 

In therapy you can process your experiences and explore the way you think and feel about things. You can find new perspectives and challenge narratives that either don’t work for you or keep you stuck. You can learn valuable skills such as assertiveness skills, coping skills and communication skills to name a few. 

Depending on the type of therapy you engage in you can learn more specialized skills. For example, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) focuses on mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation and distress tolerance. This approach can help you to improve your behaviors and responses which in turn can improve almost every aspect of your life. 

Therapy can help you with a wide variety of challenges, what are you waiting for? 

Finding the Therapist That is Right For You

You may be sold on the idea of starting therapy, but not know where to find the right therapist. This is common for many folks. Doing a quick internet search, you are likely to be bombarded with MANY different types of counselors. This can be overwhelming and may lead you to stop looking. 

Carolina Counseling Services – Southern Pines Office, contracts with a number of licensed counselors and therapists. They have different orientations and specialities, making it more likely that you can find the right counselor for you with CCS. 

The caring Scheduling Team with CCS can make finding your new therapist easy. Call today to get started!

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