Why Counseling is Essential in Mental Health Upkeep
Just recently, the US officially reported 1 million COVID-19 deaths. Aside from being a reminder that the pandemic is not over, this grim milestone calls attention to another ongoing crisis: the American mental health emergency.
Many Americans battled mental health issues even before the pandemic began, but healthcare professionals noted a significant increase in the demand for depression and anxiety treatments once COVID-19 emerged. The situation is such that Nadine Burke Harris, California’s former surgeon general, told Al Jazeera that the pandemic is “probably the greatest collective trauma of our generation.”
Through it all, mental health professionals remain our first defense for these concerns. So, here’s why counseling in particular is essential for our mental upkeep, especially during these times.
It provides support
When you’re experiencing mental health issues, it can be hard for you to find people who understand what you’re going through — people you can talk to and who fully support you. The current stigma surrounding mental health may further increase a sense of loneliness and an inability to speak out. Counselors provide a warm, welcoming, non-judgmental space for you to talk about what you’re experiencing. They’re also learned and empathetic enough to connect with you and give you the support you need to accept and work with your mental health issues.
It improves how you express and manage your emotions
Regardless of whether your mental health issues revolve around depression, anxiety, or even anger, counseling can help you express and manage your emotions in healthier and more sustainable ways. Counselors can help you identify what triggers your extreme emotions, assess how you’ve been coping with them, and suggest healthier ways to do so. This way, you avoid developing self-defeating or self-destructive habits like excessive self-criticism, procrastination, violence, the neglect of your physical or mental wellbeing, and resorting to vices like smoking or drinking.
It helps you find your purpose
In times like these, it’s common to feel loss, grief, and an overall sense of uncertainty. You may experience existential crises and feel that you’ve lost purpose in life. A counselor can talk you through your life experiences through the lens of your belief system. By doing so, they can help you rediscover your purpose. As we’ve previously discussed in our piece on tips for handling grief, counseling can thus not just help you express and manage your emotions — it helps you channel them into something productive.
It gives you hope
Instead of focusing on how your mental health issues have negatively impacted your life, counselors can help you hone in on positive developments instead. They guide you on a journey of discovery that helps heighten your self-awareness and motivates you to continue becoming a better person. If you’re having qualms about what lies in store for you and see no point to self-improvement, this sense of hope can relieve the anxiety you’re feeling and help you feel more confident about your own abilities moving forward.
It suits everyone
In 2013, a study titled “The Influence of Race and Ethnicity in Clients’ Experiences of Mental Health Treatment” reported that African American, Asian American, and Hispanic patients received a poorer quality of mental healthcare due to a lack of cultural responsiveness: their specific experiences as part of a cultural group weren’t taken into account. Today this situation is slowly being improved with multicultural counseling. This theory recognizes the multicultural nature of modern societies to address culturally-specific mental health issues. For example, the Black community has a higher suicide rate due to racism, and many Asian American families stigmatize mental health treatment. Through multicultural counseling, today’s counselors are ready to help any and every patient using a deep understanding of the societal issues they may face.
Regardless of circumstance, mental health issues will always be challenging to handle. Counseling is one essential way we can maintain mental health upkeep, especially during today’s trying times.
The Heart and Mind Counseling experts are committed to helping patients take better control of their mental health in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and New Jersey and Texas. Reach out to us start your healing journey with our individual counseling experts.
Call us or email (links at the bottom of this page) for a free 20-minute consultation.
Exclusively written for heartandmindcounseling.com by Joanna Jacobs
