Everyone Could Use a Little Therapy

Everyone needs therapy. I really believe that and I know that half of you are nodding in agreement while the rest of you roll your eyes at the thought of self-indulgent yuppies laying on a couch somewhere whining about their mothers. But that's not what real therapy is like and the truth is that the therapy I believe we all could benefit from does not come in just one form. Mental health care is a crucial part of everyone's happiness and yet we continue to relegate it to the outskirts of our healthy lifestyles.

The world of psychological intervention has grown in amazing and measurably significant ways. We have treatments and techniques that can effectively treat and improve everything depression and PTSD to marital strife and family dysfunction. And yet so many people continue to struggle without help or support. Alan Kazdin, a psychology professor from Yale University, recently gave an interview to Time.com outlining this exact tragedy. In it he laments the fact that despite a growing collection of effective therapies, millions of people in this country will suffer unnecessarily with emotional and psychological issues.

While I agree with his initial concern, Dr. Krazdin loses me (and most likely many other providers in mental health care) when he suggests the solution is to do away with individual therapy. While I understand that so many go without access to or a willingness to try individual psychotherapy, I don't see his logic in giving up on it. Rather than throw away one method of therapy for another, I believe it is time to broaden our view of what therapy really is. Much like Kazdin I am deeply troubled by the gap between available quality mental health care and the people who actually get it, but we differ in our opinion of how to solve this. I think there is now and will always be an important place for individual, couples, and group psychotherapy.

Researchers, like Jim Coan from University of Virginia and others, are demonstrating physical neurological changes based on our social connection to others which reinforces the importance of a supportive therapeutic relationship in helping people resolve some problems. We are social beings and the science is there to support our need for connection as much more than a nicety. While I believe strongly in the powerful impact "good" individual therapy can have, I also know that there is more than one way to do therapy that works.

At its core, mental health care is about healing what ails you emotionally and psychologically and there are many different ways to make that happen. From online therapies to informative and well-researched self-help books to in-office and at-home treatment with clinicians, therapy can and should meet you where you are. The real problem is not about a specific modality; rather it is the perception that we carry about mental health in general. The idea that therapy is indulgent or only for "crazy" people, is a damaging stigma that doesn't disappear by eliminating one method or another.

To truly bring mental health care to those who need it we must work towards a new way of thinking about therapy in all of its many forms. When I talk about everyone "needing" therapy, by no means am I suggesting that each one of us needs to do traditional talk therapy, rather I am proposing that we all can benefit from the process of learning how to manage life's stresses and our relational challenges a little better. All people need a little help and support along their journey in life and that is ultimately what therapy ought to be about, no matter how it's delivered.