Is counseling or psychotherapy really that helpful?
Research shows that therapy effectively decreases people’s depression, anxiety, and related symptoms like pain, fatigue, and other markers of distress or disease. It has also been found to increase survival time for heart surgery and cancer patients, and it can have a positive effect on the body’s immune system. Scientific research increasingly demonstrates that the state of our emotional and physical health is very closely linked, and that counseling can thus improve our overall wellbeing. Similarly research convincingly suggests that people who have at least several sessions of therapy are better offer than people who do not seek treatment for their emotional difficulties. Each person’s experience is different because the course and outcome of counseling depends on how you choose to use your sessions, the relationship you develop with your counselor, and your own experience, knowledge, insight, and motivation. Most people who commit to their own change process in therapy report bette
