For a lot of people out there, the issue of Mental Health still remains a mystery. Every now and then, Cognitive wellness issues come to the forefront and it is unfortunate that it requires the tragic death of a high-profile celebrity, for us to discuss the relevance and importance of Cognitive wellness.

The way mental health issues have been talked about in the recent past clearly illustrates how little we know about mental health. Our understanding is based either on bad sitcoms and/or over-dramatized web series.

There is still a lot of stigma attached to mental health primarily due to the way mental health issues have been addressed by the society historically. There still is a lot of obscurity about what counselling really is and especially, who are these people that seek it. But there are just so many of us who are struggling and either don’t know how to get help or never think about getting help at all. Thus, it has become imperative for us to understand the intricacies of Counselling and Psychotherapy to be able to help those who need it and to reach out when we need help ourselves.

“Mental Health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” – World Health Organisation

As propounded by various psychologists from time to time, Mental Health is not only about ‘not having a mental disorder’ but consciously looking after our wellness and happiness.

What is counselling?

Simply put, counselling is an alliance between a professional therapist and a client wherein both work collaboratively to help alleviate the distress that the client has been feeling. The therapist strives to create a safe space for the client by being empathetic, genuine, and non-judgemental and ensuring that the confidentiality is maintained under all circumstances.

Who needs counselling?

Counseling is an essential part of treatment for people with serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia, clinical depression, anxiety and/or personality disorders. BUT it is not limited to those with severe mental illness. Everyone needs counselling, at least at some point in their lives and can really benefit from it.

Those struggling with – work related problems, family issues, personal loss, intense emotions, experiencing stress and adjustment issues due to life transitions, benefit a great deal from counselling. Counselling helps us become better, happier, and stronger individuals. Additionally, those who have tried many things in the past but have not had sustainable gains, can enhance their existing skill sets and acquire new ones through counselling and therapy.

How do I identify that I need therapy?

Problems are a usual feature in everyone’s life. We are capable of sorting out most of the problems we face. However, there are times, when problems are too deeply rooted to be dealt with, without any assistance.

We can figure out whether we need therapy or not, by answering the following questions.

• Is the problem causing a lot of distress?

If we find ourselves stressing about the problem for a substantial amount of time; find it difficult to discuss the problem with others; and the problem has reduced the quality of our life, then the problem is very distressing and requires us to seek professional help.

• Is the problem interfering with some aspects of our lives?

When our social, professional, and/or inter-personal life is getting affected by the problem and demands us to rearrange our lifestyle to accommodate the problem, then seeking professional help becomes imperative.

Who do I go to?

In our country, there is a lot of overlapping that happens as far as the job description of a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist and counselling psychologist is concerned.

Psychiatrists adopt a medical model and aid in the management of physical and mental symptoms of severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar mood disorders, developmental disorders etc by prescribing medication.

Clinical Psychologists also adopt a somewhat medical model and are specifically trained in the diagnosis and psychological treatment of emotional and behavioural aspects of severe mental health issues.

Psychotherapists and Counselling Psychologist help provide support and therapy to manage the emotional and behavioural symptoms of mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, depression etc. Additionally, they work with individuals and groups to help them enhance their skill sets, coping strategies, and thought patterns to tackle issues related to family, work, adjustments, goals, etc.

Why Professional Help?

Most people feel that they can themselves deal with their problems or share it with their friends and thus do not need the help of a professional. While one is fortunate to have a strong support base, our friends and family may not be well equipped to understand the gravity of our problem; identify the roots and map out effective ways to deal with the problem. In most cases, our closed ones may end up favoring our individual biases and/or be a source of distress themselves.

Professional therapists offer a fresh and unbiased perspective and most importantly, are trained to help. They are equipped to identify dysfunctional factors that a layperson may overlook and administer techniques that help alleviate distress. Seeing a professional helps us overcome dysfunctional thought patterns and habits and navigate through emotional distress.

There is so much awareness about taking care of my body. Physical movement, dieting and keeping our bodies in shape. Well, therapy is all that for our Mind, the most crucial organ of our body.