Understanding Psychotherapy
What is psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is a collaborative treatment method that focuses on improving an individual's mental well-being and quality of life by not only exploring thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationships, but by truly understanding how the person's internal world is affecting their external one.
The Mind-Body Connection
In his groundbreaking book When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress, renowned Canadian physician and trauma expert Dr. Gabor Mate reveals the truth behind the mind-body connection — our mental state affects our physical condition. "Emotional stress is a major cause of physical illness, from cancer to autoimmune conditions and many other chronic diseases. The brain and body systems that process emotions are intimately connected with the hormonal apparatus, the nervous system, and in particular the immune system." The great news is, it is possible to improve both.
The Integrative Approach
An integrative psychotherapist uses their years of experience in addition to different methods they are trained in. During sessions, the process starts to untangle, uncover and understand your internal emotional world. Clients slowly experience how unprocessed difficult experiences are stored in the body, memory and nervous system creating a pattern of behavior that creates repeated experiences in your life. A lot of Psychotherapists use an integrative approach, combining different modalities learned. This is essential because every client might prefer a different approach. I use mainly Internal Family Systems, EMDR (Eye Motor Desensitization and Reprocessing), Somatic Experiencing and Polyvagal approach that highlight the mind body connection.
The Safety of Trust
Trust is earned, and so it is with your therapist, understanding how you can create safety for yourself, and creating it with the safer container of the therapy session helps you feel safe to trust. Research has shown the therapeutic alliance is a predictor of therapy success.
The Inner Oasis
Creating an internal visceral safe place is essential to be established in the first few sessions of therapy. This will allow you to regulate your nervous system when hits of inner critic create a regression to a child state of low self-esteem or self-doubt.
I hope the above helps you get curious about your internal world. In future newsletters and blog posts, I will get more specific around each of the modalities mentioned above.
Yours in holistic health,
Nisrine
