How to Change Your Mindset About Seeing Therapy as an Investment in Yourself

When you have a sore throat and a fever, it’s time to see the family doctor. Your illness is affecting your daily life. The doctor diagnoses you with strep. So, you take a course of antibiotics and you feel better within a few days. You had a health problem; you addressed it, and now you’re cured! But does mental health work the same way?

Say you’ve been feeling down lately. You’re sleeping more, have lost interest in cleaning up around the house, and don’t feel like socializing with friends. You used to love taking walks in the local part and now you don’t. Maybe all of this is compounding into anxiety and nervousness, but you still can’t seem to complete any tasks you set.

It becomes a vicious cycle. Work starts piling up. Your family notices a change in you and is beginning to get concerned.

What steps do you take to address the issue?

Is Therapy Like Going to the Doctor for the Flu?

You begin to think, Maybe I have depression—I should see someone about this. After all, when you’re sick in other, more tangible ways, you go to the doctor so they can fix you. A mental health professional can diagnose and medicate you appropriately.

Maybe it’ll only take a few appointments. After a few weeks on an antidepressant, you start feeling back to normal. You’re cured, right?

With this mindset, therapy becomes a means to an end.

In this way, therapy is a single, concrete solution to a definable problem. While this might work for the short term, it doesn’t change much for the long term. Try to adjust your goals for therapy.

Consider this: what are your goals? When you’re aiming to fix a single issue, the circumstances surrounding that issue fall away. If your goal for therapy is to work on yourself each week, to change your state of mind and how you view choices and relationships, then you set yourself up for growth, positive change, and preparing for whatever life might throw your way.

Changing Your Mindset to View Therapy as an Investment in You

Let’s say you went to therapy for your depression and got on the right medication. Then you kept up with your therapy—for weeks or months. You emerged from your depressive episode, but you still had things to discuss with your therapist. You chose to keep at it.

Eventually, the focus of your sessions turned from daily concerns to understanding your difficult childhood. You delved into the past and begin to understand your behavioral patterns. Maybe these behaviors or attitudes kept you stuck in an unproductive spiral, or sabotaged your relationships, or prevented you from achieving more at your career.

After several months or a year, you’ve learned to recognize these patterns and stop them before they start. You’ve developed healthy coping mechanisms. You’re able to set realistic goals for yourself and achieve them. Because you chose to see therapy as an investment in yourself, you’re living life in a more positive, fulfilling way.

By reframing your thinking of addressing your mental health as a means to an end, you’re getting the most out of what therapy has to offer.

Keep in mind…

Your brain and your body are different. It’s crucial to nurture healthy mental and emotional practices so you can head off issues before they happen. By approaching your mental health issues in this way, your underlying mindset will evolve. You will work to develop positive coping mechanisms, to recognize patterns of behavior, and hopefully talk through your trauma and triggers with a professional.

When you reframe your concept of therapy, when it becomes an ongoing process rather than a means to an end, your life will become more fulfilling and productive. Invest in your mental health and wellbeing—it’s worth it.

If you are interested in learning more about online therapy, reach out to me soon so I can learn more about your therapeutic needs.