Mental Health Counseling

Research into how effective counseling is suggests that around 65% to 75% of all people report that therapy helped them achieve positive results. Within that, some people experience major positive growth, and some people will experience just a little positive change. 

The most important factors that predict whether or not therapy will be effective are whether or not the client likes working with their therapist, and whether the therapist has a tailored plan for the client. It doesn’t matter how good a therapist is, if a client does not enjoy working with the therapist, then therapy is likely not going to work. Additionally, good therapy involves a plan tailored to the client. Therapy is more than just chit-chat, it is active behavioral change. Thus, a therapist needs to have a clear plan to help their client make the change they are looking for to guide the sessions. If there is no plan, then the sessions may lead nowhere.

The most likely tell-tale behavior that would indicate that you need therapy is if you are doing something a bit out of your ordinary behavior that is causing you or others harm, distress, or concern. The key to nearly all things needing therapy is whether or not the person is being harmed or is concerned about the behavior they are experiencing. If you are totally fine with whatever is happening, and it is not causing you any harm, then you probably don’t need therapy. You may be in denial about the severity of the problem, so it is crucial that you can be honest with yourself.

The most common mental health therapy is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This involves a therapist and a client talking together, and examining thought patterns and the behaviors and emotions that follow. Nearly all therapists are trained to do CBT because it is so applicable to a variety of mental health concerns.

A therapy session can look different depending on the setting. Therapy in a hospital will look different than therapy in an outpatient office setting. Since we are an outpatient clinic, we will answer from this perspective.

A typical therapy appointment will last roughly one hour and will involve:

-A review on progress: This is the therapist getting an idea on how the client has been doing since the last session, including reviewing any progress or setback. 

-Determining the focus of that day’s session: After the review is completed, the therapist and client will agree on the focus of that session. It may include a review of prior lessons or themes, or may introduce a new step.

-Intervention: Once the focus of the session has been established, the therapist will then introduce interventions. These are the actual things a therapist does to help the client change. This can include interpretations of client’s stories, skills development, or guided exercises.

-Review and plan making. Toward the end of the session, the therapist and the client should review the progress made in session, and create a plan of action. This could include scheduling another session, assigning homework exercises for the client to do, or referrals for the client to follow up on.