Talking about mental health is difficult. Many people are afraid to open up about their problems for fear of being stigmatised or judged. This barrier restricts many from getting the right help at the right time.
When it comes to physical health issues, we often give it greater priority when compared to mental health. In fact, people are more willing to try alternate treatments like osteopathy or acupuncture for symptom relief, whereas therapy still suffers a bad rep.
Fortunately, the awareness around mental health care is getting better by the day. With social media promoting mental health care, many people are now growing comfortable to the idea of discussing their tryst with depression or how seeking hypnotherapy for anorexia gave them a new lease of life.
Making mental health discussions more commonplace gives those who are impacted the confidence they need to get help. Those with poor mental health have a variety of options to seek treatment, including various therapeutic interventions.
In this article, we take a closer look at 6 therapeutic interventions that everyone needs to know.
1. Counselling
Counselling involves talking and discussing issues with a trained therapist in a safe and confidential space. It’s a form of talking therapy that helps you deal with and find better ways to cope with your emotional issues and difficult feelings.
Counselling helps people of all age groups, benefitting adults, young adults, and children. For instance, bedwetting and unexplained anger in young children can be a form of mental distress that they’re unable to express. Issues like these can be addressed in a child therapy session.
Similarly, when talking to teens, therapists can pick up on subtle cues that a troubled teen may be undergoing. Whether they’re dealing with bullying in school or the developmental stages of puberty, a therapist can help.
Adults may often undergo counselling sessions to ease their minds about their professional and personal challenges, ranging from workplace stress to unexplained anger.
In this way, counselling allows everyone to openly talk about the problems affecting their mental health and arrive at proper solutions.
2. Hypnotherapy
Many are unaware of the connection between our subconsciousness and psychological issues, like insomnia and anorexia. This link can be explored with hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is a popular therapeutic intervention that uses hypnosis to open the doors of the subconscious mind and transform self-limiting beliefs and negative thinking patterns.
A hypnotherapist is a trained professional who uses hypnosis to address various psychological problems. With hypnosis, hypnotherapists can help individuals discover the root cause of psychological issues and alter the behaviours and patterns associated with it.
They use specialised techniques including visualisation, guided imagery, suggestion, exploration, and relaxation. These techniques connect the subconscious mind and the psychological issue while addressing the problem.
3. Group Therapy
In group therapy, a therapist leads a session with more than one client. This therapeutic intervention is either used alone or in combination with other mental care treatments.
Depending on the type and extent of the psychological issue, this form of psychotherapy is further divided into interpersonal, support, cognitive behavioural, psychoeducational, and skill development groups.
Group therapy helps people dealing with various psychological conditions, including depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), eating disorders, and phobias. Moreover, a session with a group therapist can be an ideal setting to share, practice skills, build meaningful connections, and learn from others’ experiences.
4. Attachment Therapy
Attachment therapy examines how a person's relationships and experiences as an adult are influenced by their early experiences and relationships with parents or guardians.
In this form of therapy, therapists work with individuals who have experienced abuse, neglect, trauma, and other difficult childhood experiences. Attachment therapy counsellors assist them in rebuilding trust in their relationships. They help them get in touch with their inner child to heal any wounds that continue to affect them in the present.
With a professional therapist to guide you, attachment therapy can improve your relationship with others, help you find deeper and more meaningful connections, boost self-esteem, decrease vulnerability, and improve communication in relationships.
5. Bereavement Therapy
Also known as grief counselling, bereavement therapy helps those in grief after experiencing the death of near and dear ones.
Those grieving can experience a host of emotions, including anger, sadness, guilt, and regret. Grief can affect the bereaved not just psychologically but physically too. In such difficult times, a bereavement therapist can hand-hold individuals through the different stages of the bereavement process.
They assist the bereaved in adapting to life without their loved ones, working through feelings of guilt, and expressing feelings and emotions that they may not be able to share with others. The ultimate goal of this therapy is to help people cope with their grief.
6. Trauma Therapy
Trauma therapy tries to heal people who have experienced a traumatic event in their life. Trauma can take multiple forms, including sexual violence, being bullied, chronic abuse and serious injury. This form of therapy is aimed at helping trauma-affected individuals manage their emotional responses.
While not all those who’ve undergone trauma experience long-term negative effects, a traumatic experience can affect an individual’s psychological, physical, social, and occupational functioning.
If you’re finding it difficult to deal with the trauma, consider seeking this therapeutic intervention as a solution.
To Sum Up
Mental health conditions can get worse when they’re left unaddressed or swept under the carpet. Better awareness and open conversations around mental health care can motivate the affected to seek timely support. Counselling, hypnotherapy, group therapy, trauma therapy, bereavement therapy, and attachment therapy are just six of the many forms of therapeutic interventions used for addressing mental health problems.
Therapeutic interventions can empower the affected with a favourable solution to deal with various stressors, negative emotions, and counterproductive actions associated with mental health conditions. Choosing the right therapy and seeking timely help from a therapist or a counsellor can be the antidote to your issues and help you lead a happy, more fulfilling and content life.
If you are experiencing any type of psychological distress, have the courage to seek help. Remember, you don't have to go through it alone.
