Psychotherapy Benefits for Your Mental & Physical Well-Being

What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy, otherwise known as talk therapy, is a form of treatment for individuals that are facing mental health disorders or substance use disorders. Psychotherapy is an effective method to support individuals in addressing emotional challenges that they are facing and being able to work through those by talking about and processing them with their counselor. The goal of psychotherapy is to support patients in learning how to control troubling emotions and manage any responses or symptoms through healthy coping skills and techniques. Psychotherapy provides patients with an opportunity to explore the underlying causes of emotions, root causes of addiction, and deep rooted thoughts or feelings that have impacted your behaviors or mental health disorders. 

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Psychotherapy can be conducted through individual therapy sessions, group therapy processes, and family therapy sessions. There are various forms of psychotherapy that can be utilized including the following methods: 

• Cognitive behavioral therapy 
• Dialectical behavioral therapy 
• Interpersonal therapy 
• Psychodynamic therapy 
• Play therapy 
• Creative arts therapy 
• Animal-assisted therapy
• Psychoanalysis 
• Supportive therapy 

Individuals undergoing psychotherapy will often be provided with medications to assist in their healing and stabilizing process. Medications will work to stabilize mental health disorders and minimize the onset of severe symptoms that can be debilitating in a person’s life. Although this does happen often, psychotherapy does not require all patients to take medications if it is not deemed necessary by their general practitioner. 

How Common is Psychotherapy?

There are many forms of therapy available to the general public that range in levels of care and goals for the patient. Psychotherapy is one of the most commonly utilized therapeutic approaches for its emphasis on the individualized care it provides each patient. These forms of therapy will focus on the person and their underlying emotions and thoughts that have influenced your day to day life. Each therapy session is centered around your identified needs and goals while working with you to confront and heal from the debilitating thought processes and emotions that you have been experiencing. Psychotherapists are able to utilize approaches from one or multiple forms of psychotherapy to best support the individual patient’s needs which will foster conversation about change, healing, and personal growth. 

7 Benefits of Psychotherapy

Mental health disorders and substance use disorders impact the lives of millions of Americans each day. With many searching for answers and support about how to treat and manage any presenting symptoms of these disorders, psychotherapy has given Americans the tools and guidance needed to effectively treat and maintain your mental health and active addiction to drugs and alcohol. There are several benefits that psychotherapy can have for a patient and below are just 7 of the advantages that patients experience from completing psychotherapy: 

1. Improves your health and well-being- Psychotherapy is an effective tool for those individuals experiencing stress within your day to day life and are not equipped with the tools to effectively manage the levels of stress you are facing. When faced with these adversities, it can significantly impact your mental health state along with creating a physical toll on a person’s body overall. Psychotherapy will support you in addressing your stressors and learning how to relieve the stress you are experiencing which, in turn, will improve the quality of your physical and mental health. 
2. Support in addressing traumas- There are many individuals living with a substance use disorder or mental health disorder that have a history of trauma that has impacted your ability to cope and manage day to day life. Psychotherapy provides a safe, controlled environment that will allow you to talk through your trauma with your therapist while also engaging in specific trauma therapy methods. Therapy methods such as EMDR will support patients in rewriting and processing your traumatic memories to reduce or eliminate the harmful responses from trauma that are occurring. 
3. Address and manage anxiety- Anxiety can be a crippling concern for many individuals. With a constant state of high emotions and fear, it can be challenging to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. Psychotherapy will support you in confronting those fears head on and learning various methods of managing anxiety through emotional regulation methods and grounding techniques. 
4. Effectively treat depression- Patients living with depression will face difficult emotions that often create low apathy, lack of motivation, and isolation from others. A psychotherapist will be able to work with the patient to address the underlying causes of depression while supporting you in letting your emotions out through talk therapy. Strategies for managing depressive emotions will be developed so that you are able to maintain your lifestyle and commitments free of depression. 
5. Treat obsessive compulsive disorder or compulsions- Obsessive thoughts or compulsions will often overtake a person’s mind state and thinking patterns to the point where it is challenging to focus on anything else. Psychotherapy will support patients in examining obsessive behaviors while providing tools for shifting your thought patterns and responses and offering alternatives to engage in to replace your compulsions. 
6. Relationship building- Psychotherapy offers an opportunity for patients to explore the relationships they have and how communication may have impacted those relationships or contributed to conflicts that may have arisen. As you progress through psychotherapy, you will learn healthy communication skills and interpersonal skills. 
7. Support with any area of your life- Psychotherapy is a diverse form of therapy that can be applied in many facets within a person’s life. Everyone feels a range of emotions throughout their life and sometimes those feelings can be difficult to process and manage. Psychotherapy provides a safe space for you to speak with a therapist that will support you in talking about and processing any challenges and emotions that you are experiencing, allowing for you to maintain optimal physical and mental health. 

Mental Health and Addiction

It is common for those living with a substance use disorder to be experiencing a co-occurring mental health disorder at the same time. This can occur for a variety of reasons but one predominant factor that increases this possibility is that individuals who are facing unpleasant symptoms from a mental health disorder are often looking for ways to cope and manage with the ongoing symptoms. The allure of escape or numbing of emotions through drugs and alcohol can become appealing and many will turn to substance abuse as a method of self-medicating. The longer that you use substances as a way to self-medicate, the more likely you are to develop an addiction and dependence to drugs or alcohol. Additionally, there are times where individuals that are abusing drugs and alcohol will experience worsening symptoms of mental health due to your substance abuse. In order to effectively treat both mental health and substance use disorders, it is important that you receive the support of a dual diagnosis treatment program that will address your root causes of addiction while supporting you in developing the skills to manage your co-occurring disorder through natural, holistic methods.

How The Detox Center of LA Can Help

The Detox Center of LA offers patients a comprehensive treatment plan that incorporates varying levels of care to meet the needs of each patient. Each treatment program is individualized to meet the needs and goals of each patient and will incorporate a variety of evidence based therapy methods including a variety of psychotherapy approaches. Our team sees each patient for the unique individual that you are and works hard to provide you with a treatment plan that is relevant and beneficial for your overarching goals for addiction recovery and mental health treatment. Healing from addiction is possible and our team is ready to help you begin your road to recovery. Simply give us a call today to take the first step towards your newfound way of life of sobriety, health and wellness.