Which Type of Counseling Is Right for Me?

Counseling is the use of psychological methods to provide professional assistance to an individual or group. Unfortunately, we, as a society, have attached a stigma to mental and emotional health disorders, and, by extension, the counseling that can help people with those issues. But everyone faces challenges at some point in their lives, and seeking help is a positive step toward meeting those challenges.

At Umbrella HealthCare, Dr. John Lewis and our staff offer a wide range of counseling services in a supportive environment to accommodate our patients in Phoenix, Arizona, who are living with emotional or mental health issues. But what type of counseling is the right choice for you? Well, it really depends on your symptoms and the root cause of your issues, but we can narrow it down for you here.

Why might I need counseling?

Counseling employs some form of talk therapy (psychotherapy) to help you work through your problems. Counselors provide a safe place to discuss your thoughts and feelings, and everything you say is in complete confidence and accepted without judgment. That lets you view your situation in a healthy, productive way and enables you to take the necessary action to correct whatever’s wrong.

Counseling can be more effective than just talking with a friend, as some people find it easier to express their emotions to someone they don’t know well while in a safe space. And sometimes, just being able to express those emotions can help ease what’s weighing you down.

In addition, a skilled counselor can ask the hard but necessary questions to get to the root of your issues, giving you more insight into yourself and what’s needed to resolve the situation.

Umbrella HealthCare offers many types of counseling:

• Grief counseling
• Couples counseling
• Family therapy
• Parenting education and support therapy
• Stress management counseling
• Work and career counseling

Counseling can also be useful for treating addictive behavior and a range of mental health concerns like depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

So, to answer the question of which type is right for you, it really depends on why you’re coming in for counseling. If you’re grieving a loved one, grief counseling would be the obvious choice. If you’re having trouble with your spouse and kids, family therapy can help you work through the dynamics of your situation.

What approaches might a counselor use?

In addition to counseling types, counselors use a variety of approaches within those types, and they tailor the specifics to your personal issues and the severity of your problem. Approaches include:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

CBT is a widespread approach that's proved effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, addictive behavior, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness.

The therapy contains several core principles: 

• Psychological problems are partly based on unproductive ways of thinking.
• Psychological problems are partly based on learned behaviors that are unproductive and stem from unproductive ways of thinking.
• People can change their thinking patterns and find better ways to cope with their problems, relieving their symptoms in the process.

Insight-oriented psychotherapy

Another approach is insight-oriented therapy, which focuses on the psychological factors that influence behavior. This approach has been used for more than 100 years and can help with a wide range of problems.

The therapy contends that unresolved childhood conflicts can cause problems in adulthood because we hide them from our conscious awareness. These conflicts may produce symptoms such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, physical pain, sexual dysfunction, relationship problems, and difficulty adjusting to change.

The counselor’s job is to help clients understand how their problems in the present may be connected with long-standing issues from the past and to propose resolutions.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR was developed in 1987 to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s guided by the Adaptive Information Processing model, which holds that distressing symptoms result from an inadequately processed memory containing the emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and physical sensations that were felt during and immediately after the trauma. 

While other approaches focus on altering emotions, thoughts, and responses from traumatic experiences, EMDR therapy focuses specifically on the memory, with the goal of altering the way in which the brain stores the memory. This, in turn, reduces and eliminates the problematic symptoms.

Are you in need of counseling but overwhelmed by the types and approaches that may be used? Don’t worry; Umbrella HealthCare is here to help. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Lewis, give our office a call today at 623-242-1389 or book online.