tawandamusarurwa
Mertha Mo Nyamande
HAVING already explored issues around addictions and anxiety, this week we are going to focus on how we deal with these matters in terms of therapy.
Regarding rehabilitation, we often start with a process called checking in, where we share what we are feeling, which may be linked to background issues that we will then explore.
Checking in also helps in setting the agenda for the session.
While we may have a structure that we follow, we do not ignore issues that arise as therapy progresses. There are transference and countertransference issues that also arise and will need to be addressed so that they do not compromise the therapy process.
These issues include how you may feel when a therapist’s voice, dressing or mannerisms trigger you to a certain time and person that you may then project those emotions on.
These are often very strong emotions, which, if not identified early, can be the greatest snag in therapy. Most people are not even aware of it and they get to a point where therapy just becomes impossible.
We then get into psychoeducation: some general awareness, before going into a deeper understanding of the problem in order to use the right approach to solving it.
Psychoeducation is followed by guided discovery, which is a tool to walk you through your difficulties and find their root causes.
Most people do not know themselves enough to be conscious of their problems, as they would have tried to bury them at the back of their minds so that whenever they hear of them, they actually do not recognise them.
So, guided discovery brings an insight into those hidden problems.
We then use visualisations, where we talk you through the problem and try to make you visualise it in your mind and see how much of an impact it has on you.
We may then need to explore a graded exposure to the issue or a flooding technique, depending on your response.
The key and basic techniques used in therapy for anxiety are breathing, relaxation and mindfulness.
Breathing is the most basic function for human survival. As such, getting you to manage something as simple as your breathing more effectively can bring a world of relief that may help you to reset and regain the control that you need. A skilled and experienced therapist knows which techniques are useful and when.
They are also able to identify what is going on so that interventions are timely and bring the desired effect.
Breathing is used for two main purposes. First, to feed the body and cells with the oxygen they need for energy to perform whatever task is required. Secondly, to enable the brain to be more open to other solutions it may not have thought of due to limited energy.
So, before you do anything or respond to anything important, you may want to take a deep breath. That brief delay helps your thought process in ways you cannot even begin to imagine – it is like taking a magic pill.
Mindfulness, on the other hand, is about helping you to realise that it is not all that you let pass and it is not all that you attend to.
When we get into mindfulness exercises, the idea is to help you practise these critical skills. Depending on what you may be struggling with, we could get into mindfulness thinking, mindfulness breathing, mindfulness walking or even mindfulness eating. All these techniques are powerful and can help change whatever difficulty you may be experiencing.
Depending on the level of distress you bring into the room, we may recommend that you get some medication prescribed to help you calm down enough for your mind to be present in the therapy moment.
We also look at any risk issues to ensure that whatever you do when therapy is underway is safe for you during and after the exercise.
Mertha Mo Nyamande is a psychotherapist. He can be contacted on [email protected] or www.i-wellbeing.weebly.com
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