Therapy can be hard to start and even more challenging when you don’t know where to begin. Maybe you have heard others talk about how amazing therapy is and are more interested in the process. Or maybe you’re more hesitant about jumping all in and need more information before you begin. Wherever you are in your therapy journey, here are a few reasons why I believe therapy works, speaking from both a therapist and client perspective.
1. Find the Right Fit
Finding the right fit is essential when you’re looking for a therapist for yourself. During the initial intake, ask your therapist questions about how they can help you and what experience they have working with clients like yourself (e.g. cultural background, identity, life stage, emotional and psychological experience). Effective therapists will have ongoing conversations about progress, session frequency, and cost, which are all important to discuss to ensure therapy stays helpful and sustainable. And if you’re not receiving that information upfront feel empowered to ask those questions yourself. Just know that at any point you can choose to end therapy if it’s not feeling right. Ultimately, trust your gut about the connection between you and your therapist.
2. Felt Safety
Therapists are trained to create a space that feels both emotionally and physically safe. Felt safety in a vulnerable space is so important when the expectation for therapy is to open up about vulnerable topics. Therapists establish emotional safety by creating a warm, inviting, and judgment-free space for you. Apart from emotional safety, is actual physical safety. Therapists take an oath to “do no harm,” which means when you are in the therapy space you will and should feel respected.
3. Privacy & Confidentiality
Privacy and confidentiality are cornerstones of the therapeutic relationship. Privacy is the experience of being in a private space with just you and your therapist. Confidentiality refers to your therapist keeping what you say undisclosed except in certain situations where confidentiality may have to be broken: if you are a danger to yourself or someone else, there is abuse or neglect of a child or elderly person, or if your therapist is legally required to break confidentiality by court order. Most often, what’s said in therapy stays in therapy. Therapists take confidentiality seriously because it’s essential to building trust. If you are ever unsure about what your therapist might have to share, or with whom, don’t hesitate to ask them directly. You can also find this information in your therapist’s disclosure statement.
4. Trust & Rapport
Trust and rapport are foundational to effective therapy. Rapport is the connection you feel with your therapist. It could be laughter, shared interests, or just a general sense of comfort in their presence. Trust is that deeper emotional safety that builds over time and helps you feel comfortable to really open up. If you find yourself wondering what your therapist might think or worrying about their reactions, bring that into the therapy room. That kind of curiosity can lead to valuable conversations that deepen the therapeutic relationship. Therapists understand that trust takes time, and they want to create an intentional space for you to talk about how therapy is going and how the relationship feels for you.
5. Exploration & Process
Exploration and processing are foundational skills used by therapists to uncover patterns, understand behaviors, and explore change. When you have the right fit, feel safe, understand your privacy, and trust your therapist, then the exploration and processing can happen. In my personal experience as a client, I have found that the more open I am to exploring and processing difficult relationships or tricky dynamics, then the more likely I am to integrate adaptive and meaningful changes into my life. Therapists are trained to appropriately and safely process difficult topics with clients through a variety of ways. Some therapists may use primarily talk therapy with their clients, others may use dance, art, sand tray, or play. Regardless of the modality, the hope is that you feel seen and heard by your therapist.
If you are even slightly considering starting therapy, I encourage you to take the leap. Ask questions. Trust your gut. Therapy is a vulnerable process, but you don’t have to experience it alone. Remember that if you’re ever feeling unsure or lost in the process, talk to your therapist.
Check out our team of wonderful therapists if you or someone you know is interested in starting therapy!
