5 Common Lies, You Might Believe About Therapy


Therapy or counselling is an extremely powerful tool that may relieve people from a prolonged misunderstanding with their partner, solve marital issues, helps to cope with depression and anxiety and many more. Therapy is also extremely beneficial if someone faces an emotional and psychological issue. Yet, there are a lot of misconceptions about counselling and that puts a lot of pressure on people suffering from, breakups one after another, divorce, extensive dependency on anti-depressants etc.

Today Delhi’s renowned counsellor and psychologist Shivani Misri Sadhoo shares some of the common lies that many Indians tell and believe about counselling. Some of these lies come from relatives, neighbours or even friends who don’t hesitate to talk and advise on any topic for that they have zero knowledge about or wrongly gathered ideas from saas-bahu serials.

1. All therapy & therapist are the same

People tell you that all counsellors and their counselling methods are same or they give you friendly advice. NO, THEY ARE NOT SAME and they are not your friends either. Every therapist has their certified specialization areas, some are specialised in relationship and marriage counselling, some are specialised in adolescent issues, some are skilled child psychologists and the list is endless.  Unlike a medical doctor, a good therapist spends a fixed 45 mins to an hour per session with an individual and they do it in specialized settings like hospitals or clinics.

Hence do a thorough research about the therapist before meeting, check what is the session time, generally a good therapist conducts a 60 minutes session and they charge more as they get experienced (get established due to their success rate), their appointment slots are pre-booked and they devote a lot of time to an individual or to a couple.

2. Just talking about my problems won’t solve my problem

Talk therapy (also known as psychotherapy) is not just “talking about your problems". A good therapist can help you cope with feelings, problem solve and change behaviour patterns that may contribute to your symptoms. 

Some therapy may involve homework, such as tracking your moods, writing about your thoughts, or participating in social activities that have caused anxiety in the past. You might be encouraged to look at things in a different way or learn new ways to react to events or people.

Most of today’s talk therapy is brief and focused on your current thoughts, feelings and life issues. Focusing on the past can help explain things in your life, but focusing on the present can help you cope with the present and prepare for the future. You might see your therapist or counselor more often when you first begin working with them, and later, as you progress towards your goals, you might have appointments less often. 
3. If you have a supporting family then there is no need for counselling.

Families can be a source of support, encouragement and love but sometimes relationships within families are put under strain and family members feel isolated or overlooked. 
Family counselling can help when siblings aren’t getting on, or when parents and children are going through a divorce or separation. Forming a new family is a challenge and it is at this point that many parents contact Relate for some support to help everyone settle.
If you’re having problems as a family, whatever’s causing them, Family Counselling can help the whole family to communicate better, and to understand and resolve differences.
When families go through change, it can be difficult to learn to adapt. Counselling can help family members to support one another through these difficult times, to reduce conflict and arguments and grow stronger as a result.
Whatever difficulties you're having as a family, counselling can help.
4. Counselling and therapy is for mad people there is nothing wrong with me.

One out of five people need counselling at least once in their lives. What’s more, about 6% of people need medications for mental health problems.
According to the government’s statistics, 20% of Indians need counselling at some point of their lives. One per cent of the population suffers from serious mental health disorders, while 5-10% of Indians suffer from moderate disorders.

It is a process wherein the aim is to help clients, mainly outside medical setting. The counselor's repertoire of skills includes those of forming an understanding relationship as well as interventions focused on helping clients change specific aspects of their feeling thinking and acting for effective living and personal responsibility. 


All sorts of people go for counseling and this doesn't mean that they are "mad" or "weak". On the contrary, people who do come for counseling are showing a willingness to deal with their problems rather than running away from them.

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