10 ways therapy helps

Counselling changes lives. We've all heard this before, but how can it help? Here are my top 10 therapy takeaways.

1. You can unload your feelings

Talking about experiences of shame, low self-esteem and trying to fit into the world are universal feelings which are worth discussing. When we are unwell, shame can be suffocating. It can act as a magnet to pull in more negative feelings and compound our mood further. Feeling bad, then seeing everything else as bad that's connected to you and what you do, is a symptom of shame.

2. It gets you out of your comfort zone

As much as staying in your comfort zone is secure, constant and known, it can also be limiting and deny you of better things. Counselling helps to acknowledge the steps you are taking away from your comfort zone and helps you believe that you can do it. Believe in yourself and dream big - you've got this!

3. Counselling is much like learning to surf life's waves

Sometimes it's easy to forget there will be another up when things go wrong. Therapy helps consolidate that you are the constant in your life. The ups and downs will always occur but keeping your feet connected with the surfboard helps keep connected with yourself.

4. With increased self-awareness comes more peace

By managing our behaviours and boundaries better, there's less conflict and rumination. It takes courage and time to develop self-awareness. It can be uncomfortable too but understanding ourselves gives us the chance to enjoy more, fret less, and use ourselves as a reference point more and more. How self-aware are you? How do you know?

5. Self-care

It's trendy to talk about self-care but do you really do it? Or maybe you do a version that looks good to others? Working out what's right for you and what nourishes your soul is a beautiful thing to explore. You determine what your self-care looks like.

6. Acknowledge your struggles

Often, people can feel that their problems aren't enough to see a therapist about. I frequently find myself saying, "People come to therapy for a lot less."

It's not necessarily the reason itself but more how that thing impacts you that's important. If you are struggling, you can get help. Don't measure or compare. No one really knows what it's like for you except for you.

7. It can support you now and for the rest of your life

Having a counsellor can feel like a huge support when you go under the surface to explore what's causing ripples in your life. Understanding what lies beneath takes courage and time. The results will be life-changing as you notice what triggers you may have and how best to manage them. 

8. Learning to trust yourself

This is at the heart of counselling: learning what's right for you and understanding which external pulls are no longer serving you. Hearing and trusting intuition from your soul once the frequency is set to drown out old beliefs, is magical and liberating. How often do you trust you?

9. Take ownership of your self-worth

Placing our self-worth in the hands of others diminishes our power, freedom and soul. Relating worth to achievement, success, wealth, followers or other is, again, making your worth conditional.

Just like the sun shines every day, being an ever-present majestic part of our solar system, so do you. The sun needs nothing else for it to shine. You too shine, every single day. 

10. It can help you to decipher mysteries

Realising things you've been stuck with, for example, in relation to others, unhelpful behaviours or ways of thinking which limit personal growth is an amazing part of therapy.

It can feel like a mystery has been solved and with it comes more self-compassion and increased compassion for others. These breakthroughs unlock so much more than you might expect and are worth celebrating!