What Is Therapy?

 

When it comes to therapy we often have a one size fits all image in our minds. And it looks something like the above picture. Typically two people sitting/on a zoom/on a phone call where one talks about everything happening in their lives and the other person is able to provide context. 

But therapy looks like a lot of different things. I just was "in therapy" even though the therapist does not like the term therapy (and no they did not say what word they preferred LOL) for a grand total of 3 sessions, and now am on a on call basis (if I feel like I would like to chat I can text and set up an appointment)

It makes sense especially since I tend to experience the "therapy placebo effect?" or the classic I have something I think I should work on, and then signing up for therapy makes the issue disappear like it never was there to begin with. So my life is always going pretty well and my therapist (I have tried a few for brief periods of the course of the last decade or so) goes you are doing fine, no reason to continue. 

I was thinking why my experience has been different from the one I hear when pretty much everyone I know (since pretty much everyone I know has gone to therapy, is currently going to therapy, or is in the process of starting therapy.)

Some of this comes back to the question of what is therapy. I think therapy often feels like a mismatch* because I tend to do "therapy" on my own, I do a lot of processing, I do a lot of thinking, I do a lot of journaling. I also find therapy in other contexts. I have found therapy in inspirational talks, and therapy in others talking about their own journeys with therapy. I guess I could say I do therapy vicariously?

Some of this is also because I just have to talk through/write through what I am experiencing. Some of this is I know myself pretty well and any new information is simple more background on the character that is me. Some of  this is often I just need to be reminded I can trust myself, I can take up space, and I can reach out when I am struggling. 

It is also because even when a therapist suggests something that for others would be a big deal, I sit, I process for a few days, then move on. One example is my therapist suggesting I was neurodivergent last week (see my last blog post to see me processing that). Talking to one friend who suggested that that, that is the kind of "breakthrough" that people talk about having in therapy. I realized for me it was more a "oh ok sounds good, I'll use that as a working hypotheses right now" 

Part of this is also because I have taken uncountable numbers of free online courses about therapy or for therapists so I have been introduced to many of the tools that everyone recommends in different situations. I guess for me it is more I want someone to help tell me oh this is a hammer situation, or in this case you need an Allen wrench because you are putting together Ikea furniture. 

In the end the fact that my experience with therapy is different from other people's experience comes down to the fact there are so many types of therapy. I am not sure if I have figured out what type of therapy works the best for me but that is fine. Just means I have more to process/journal about/talk to friends about.

(*I am in no way saying that therapists are not useful, or that everyone can do therapy on their own, I understand how we need more therapists especially ones who are culturally competent and can understand different experiences)

Note: On the Psychology Today Website there are about 70 types of listed. So why do we culturally typically only have one image of what therapy looks like?

Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Adlerian Therapy

Animal-Assisted Therapy

Applied Behavior Analysis

Art Therapy

Attachment-Based Therapy

Bibliotherapy

Biofeedback

Brain Stimulation Therapy

Christian Counseling

Coaching

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Processing Therapy

Cognitive Stimulation Therapy

Compassion-Focused Therapy

Culturally Sensitive Therapy

Dance Therapy

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Eclectic Therapy

Emotionally Focused Therapy

Equine-Assisted Therapy

Existential Therapy

Experiential Therapy

Exposure and Response Prevention

Expressive Arts Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy

Family Systems Therapy

Feminist Therapy

Forensic Therapy

Gestalt Therapy

Human Givens Therapy

Humanistic Therapy

Hypnotherapy

Imago Relationship Therapy

Integrative Therapy

Internal Family Systems Therapy

Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Jungian Therapy

Marriage and Family Therapy

Mentalization-Based Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Motivational Interviewing

Multicultural Therapy

Music Therapy

Narrative Therapy

Neuro-Linguistic Programming Therapy

Neurofeedback

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

Person-Centered Therapy

Play Therapy

Positive Psychology

Prolonged Exposure Therapy

Psychoanalytic Therapy

Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychological Testing and Evaluation

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

Reality Therapy

Relational Therapy

Sandplay Therapy

Schema Therapy

Social Recovery Therapy

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Somatic Therapy

Strength-Based Therapy

Structural Family Therapy

The Gottman Method

Therapeutic Intervention

Transpersonal Therapy

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy