How Do I Know if Therapy Is Working? And Other Questions About Therapy Answered

When someone outside of therapy learns that Panthea Saidipour is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, their first question is usually: “Are you analyzing me right now?” Saidipour jokingly responds they shouldn’t worry because she’s off the clock. But this question actually reveals a common concern clients have, whether they mention it aloud or not: “Are you judging me right now?” Judgment has no place in therapy, said Saidipour, who works with young professionals in their 20s and 30s who want to gain a deeper understanding of themselves. It kills curiosity. And curiosity is critical in therapy. “A few of the main goals of psychotherapy, as I see them, are to deepen your understanding of yourself, to help you get more in touch with your inner thoughts and feelings, and to make what’s unconscious more conscious,” Saidipour said. “This requires shifting from a place of judgment to curiosity about yourself.” And it’s from this place of curiosity that clinicians also operate. The issue of judgment is just one of many questions that comes up. Below, you’ll find other questions clinicians get asked regularly, along with their responses. Can you help me? This is probably the number one question psychotherapist Katrina Taylor, LMFT, gets asked by potential clients, who are wondering about her knowledge and experience, and if they’d be a good fit. Taylor stressed the importance of attending an initial session to see what it feels like to talk with a therapist...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Disorders General Psychotherapy Self-Help Treatment questions about therapy therapeutic alliance therapy fit therapy questions Source Type: news