As stated above, you do not necessarily need to seek out a mental health professional with a fancy master degree in psychology or even a bachelor’s degree in psychotherapy to gain the best results for your situation. You do however need to find a professional counsellor with certain skill sets and a deep understanding of human behaviour and how the mind operates, from a deep psychological level. This is the core skill set that every good counsellor should have and is the key to accurately unearthing a person’s situation and problems, to diagnose the core issues that are usually hidden deep in the unconscious mind that are causing these problems to arise on the surface level.  

Often “traditional talk therapies” and how they work from a surface level won’t necessarily uncover this at all. It can also take years to unearth and resolve or they can just proscribe you pills to move you along to check things off sooner. This is why you may have heard of friends or family members seeing a medical therapist for years and costing them thousands in the process with little or no results from their therapies. 

Many psychologists and psychotherapists (but not all) follow a ‘one-size fits all’ checklist and some only follow a ‘text-based process’ with what they are told to follow in university, textbooks and the medical board.

It’s also very common for many “traditional medical therapists” to just proscribe medicine treatments for a quick fix of your symptoms and can just tick the boxes of what is required in their license quota.

The thought of being able to solve your problems by taking a “magic white pill” every day can sound very appealing and feel like an easy way to resolve problems quickly. 

“If only it was that easy!“

Mental and emotional problems can have many layers, and medication is not always a lasting cure and often only ‘band-aids‘ the core problem, that hasn’t yet been addressed. 

Make no doubt medication may help ‘numb‘ certain symptoms, but it often comes with huge side effects. Furthermore, it cannot solve the “deep underlying” problems that are often hidden deep down inside. Medication won’t fix your marriage or relationship, help you become the best version of yourself or give you insight into why you stilling living life feeling trapped and unhappy.

With that said, Counselling can take time depending on how many layers you need to work on and how big those issues are. Counselling is challenging as uncomfortable emotions and thoughts often arise as part of the healing process. However, finding a counsellor that can provide long-lasting benefits beyond symptom relief is the long-term goal and is what you should always seek with working with a counsellor. Proper counselling guides you to release the negative feelings and emotions that are holding you back from the person you want to be and gives you the tools for creating your ideal life. It’s wise to see counselling as a mental health maintenance tool for whatever life challenges are thrown your way, for better connection to others and making sure you live your life to its full potential and being more free.