Our counselors provide therapy in Davie, FL

Within an individual session, I believe curiosity is critical. A spirit of curiosity helps us understand how we’ve gotten to this place in life. By learning about our past, our present circumstances, and also our dreams for the future, we begin to know who we are now and who we wish to become. We discover why we think and feel the way we do. This helps us break unhelpful patterns and allows us to make lasting changes.

In session, two valuable tools worth developing are genuine compassion and authentic connection. Therapy is not about learning some quick, magical trick. Those are simply band-aids you can pick up from any self-help book. Instead, we need to go deeper and have something more transformational. So, compassion. We’re only ever doing our best. Finding harmony and achieving our goals begins with gentle insight and awareness. The past has influenced our internal emotional world and impacts how we interact with the world around us. Condemning ourselves keeps us stuck. Learning to have empathy towards ourselves is the beginning of building a new life. And then, connection. Disconnection and discontentment lead us to be out of balance and often result in anxiety, unease, and stress. When we increase consciousness and begin meeting our needs, all facets of our lives begin to transform. Being proactive about connecting with ourselves and others brings harmony to us and allows us to live the life we’ve always wanted.

Mental health tends to be far more nuanced than physical medicine. While we can estimate how long it will take for a broken leg to heal, it is nearly impossible to guess how long it might take for a broken heart to mend. Often, the more committed you are to making changes, the faster things move. In other words, it might be better to consider how you’re showing up, both in sessions and throughout the week, rather than focusing on the number of weeks or months. Be aware that any potential breakthroughs don’t happen right at first, but the commitment to the therapy process does yield results. You might not ever have a tremendous “ah-ha!” moment, but instead could experience a slower yet steady drip of results. How long will all of this take for you? There are lots of variables to consider so this isn’t an easy question to answer. One consideration to be mindful of is the length of time you’ve been struggling. If you’ve been dealing with an issue for decades, it likely won’t resolve in just a few weeks. There is often immediate relief as you begin to unburden yourself with what you’ve been carrying. Overall, signs of improvement include a reduction in symptoms, an increase in insight, improved relationships, and the development of healthier coping mechanisms.

Therapy is not something that happens to you. The reality is that you can’t just show up, passively sit by, and expect your therapist to change you. This is great news, actually, because there is much you can do to move things along. For example, you can prepare for sessions. What do you think will benefit you most — telling your therapist your week was fine and you don’t know what you want to talk about, or coming prepared with things that have been on your mind and you’d like to work on? When you’re not in session, be mindful of thoughts that come up for you, along with any important topics you might want to discuss in session. Spend time reflecting on what has happened since your last session — what has been challenging? What isn’t working and where might you be getting stuck? Did you have any relationship struggles and communication difficulties? Did something over the past week cause you upset and distress? Was there anything that went well and which provided you insight? Also, as a therapist, a big detail I’ve noticed between the clients who achieve their goals and those who stay perpetually stuck is who is practicing outside of sessions. If a client is actively engaged in the work outside of our weekly session, I expect their progress to usually be better and faster. For those who don’t spend much (if any) time working on things between sessions, I am never surprised when they decide therapy just isn’t working for them. It’s the work that you do outside your appointments that will really move the needle forward.

Think about what goal(s) you may want to achieve. Be ready to talk about what problems you’re experiencing. If you’re nervous, it can help to practice what you’re going to say. You don’t have to have a perfect statement. Just do your best to express what prompted you to seek help. Make sure you have a quiet, private space for your appointment. Ensure you won’t be interrupted. Do what is needed to avoid any distractions. No other individuals should be in the room during your session. Be sure there is adequate lighting so that the therapist can see you. Think about setting up your space to include water, comfortable seating, a favorite blanket or pillow, etc.