From increased confidence to better communication skills, counseling can prove greatly beneficial to many people young and old. After all, the main goal of any counselor is to empower their patients to grow in a variety of ways: mentally, spiritually and emotionally. On top of it all, many seek to help their patients become self-advocates, taking an active, educated role in their treatment decision making.
Taking Care of Yourself Starts with Goals
The first step toward empowerment in controlling your own destiny starts with counseling. Therapy involves more than just talking about problems and working through them, although that is a large part. It also involves setting goals and discussing realistic ways to achieve them, as well as timelines for success.
For instance, counselors may work with their patients to:
- Focus on strengths
- Solve problems
- Look to the future instead of reviewing hurts from the past
- Focus on living the best life possible instead of on illness
Taking good care of yourself is critical to a successful recovery journey, whether you suffer from depression, bipolar disorder, marital problems, or anxiety. A large part of moving toward recovery is knowing that physical, spiritual, and emotional health are all connected and that supporting one supports the others, points out Mental Health America.
Good self-care can include anything from living healthy and practicing hood hygiene to relaxing with meditation and joining support groups.
It can be helpful to write down your main goals so you don’t lose sight of them. They can be easily achievable over the short term or they can involve more challenging goals over the long term that may take several small steps to get to. Always remember: achieving your goals, however small, is a sign of hope and accomplishment.
Becoming Your Own Advocate
While our loved ones and friends can certainly provide their support and encouragement along the way, ultimately, you are your own greatest advocate. This is especially true when going through difficult health battles, such as severe treatment-resistant depression or even ADHD in your child. There seems to be a disconnect between dealing with a particular issue and getting the right help for it. Therefore, empowering patients to get the care they need and to look out for themselves starts with good counselors who understand how difficult this can be.
In order to empower patients, counselors must provide individuals with the resources and the skills to make this possible. One way they can encourage this is to help patients communicate better, use their time and that of their doctors’ wisely, and know when to ask for additional help, says Psychology Today. This includes instilling confidence in patients to make changes when relationships, treatments, and care teams just aren’t working any longer.
Empowering knowledge and self-advocacy can instill growth in many ways. Simply knowing the treatments available can be half the battle. From exercise and diet changes to medication and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for treatment-resistant depression, empowerment begins with knowledge, which leads to hope. Counselors play a big role in helping their patients grow, thrive, and recover.
Contact Comprehensive MedPsych Systems
As a nationally-recognized provider of mental and behavioral health services, Comprehensive MedPsych Systems has the highly-skilled, compassionate professionals you need access to with top-tier credentials. Our mental and behavioral health care providers have expertise in treating a wide variety of mental health issues and mental health disorders, from neuropsychologists to psychiatrists to therapists. To learn more, please contact us at 941-363-0878 or find a location near you.