Embarking on the journey of therapy is a courageous step toward self-discovery and healing. Yet, once you find yourself in that therapist’s chair, the question inevitably arises: What do I talk about? The blank canvas of conversation can be both liberating and intimidating.
We can help you out. Read on to find out what to talk about in therapy.
Table of Contents
Your Emotions and Feelings
In therapy, it’s important to openly express and explore your current emotional state. This involves identifying and articulating the emotions you are experiencing. Whether it’s joy, sadness, anger, fear, or a combination of these, discussing your feelings provides valuable insights into your inner world.
Your therapist can help you navigate these emotions. This will help you understand their origins and potential impact on your thoughts and behaviors.
Understanding what triggers certain emotions is crucial for personal growth. In therapy, you can delve into the events, situations, or thoughts that elicit specific emotional responses.
Identifying patterns in your emotional reactions allows you to develop coping strategies and more adaptive ways of dealing with challenges.
Mental Health Struggles
When discussing mental health struggles in therapy, it’s important to identify and articulate the specific challenges you are facing.
This could include symptoms such as ongoing sadness, anxiety, sleep pattern changes, difficulty concentrating, or any other mental health-related issues.
Clearly defining the nature of your struggles helps your therapist tailor the therapeutic approach to your individual needs.
Mental health struggles often have underlying causes. In therapy, you may explore the roots of your challenges. They could stem from past experiences, unresolved traumas, ongoing stress, or biological factors.
Understanding the origins of your mental health struggles is a key step toward developing targeted interventions and coping strategies.
Consider the Types of Therapy
Depending on your therapy options, you might want to discuss different things.
In cognitive-behavioral therapy, for example, you might explore and challenge negative thought patterns or cognitive distortions that may contribute to distress.
When you’re going through psychodynamic therapy, you’ll explore unconscious thoughts and feelings that may be influencing your behaviors and relationships. You might discuss and process how early life experiences might impact present-day emotions.
If you’re struggling to communicate, you might talk about it in interpersonal therapy. That can help you improve communication skills and express emotions effectively in relationships.
There’s also dialectic behavior therapy, which can help you with mindfulness. Your trained therapist will work with you to develop mindfulness techniques to stay present in the moment and reduce emotional distress. This will help you be better-able to manage and regulate intense emotions.
Your therapist can also help you access other sorts of treatment. For example, they may help link you up with affordable ketamine therapy in Los Altos, CA.
What to Talk About in Therapy? Now You Know
What to talk about in therapy? It can depend on different aspects of therapy and your life. Now that you know the general outline, hopefully, you’ll be able to approach therapy in a way that helps your mental health.
