Dear Reader: Can Psychotherapy Help?
We all have problems. Psychology has become very popular. Sometimes it is easy to slip into the idea that psychology can solve all our problems, but it obviously can't. On the other hand, I think there is no problem that can't be looked at from a psychological angle, and often this angle can open new doors and avenues.
Many people now turn to psychologists as they used to turn to a local priest or medicine man or woman. Psychology is attacked by some rationalists for being a new religion that replaces one irrationality with another. It is attacked, on the other hand, by some religious authorities for pretending to give what only religious faith can give.
Psychology is attacked from all sides but plows on. It seems to me it has gotten a foothold in other countries besides those in Europe and North America. This website receives maybe one quarter of its hits from Asian, South American, African, and Mid-Eastern countries. Why I am not sure, but my impression is that psychology is being looked to more and more by people with problems.
It should be noted again, as I have at many other places on this web-site, that psychotherapy and the search for self-knowledge has its down side. It can stir up very deep problems that can lead to dangerous behavior, and it can also breed a self-absorption that can become self-centeredness and selfishness. It can lead to people spinning wildly into uncharted and uncontrolled areas of their minds where anything goes.
On the other hand, a good psychotherapist can, many times, guide a patient through these dangers into a new approach to life accompanied by hope and vigor and meaningful ties with others and with the world at large.
You are a factor in every situation you are in, and if you change, the situation will change. In some situations the only thing in a situation you have any chance to change in a significant way is you and what is going on in you. This is not easy, but, at least, you have a chance but only if you want to adjust, adapt, and change. Here is where a psychotherapist, if there is one near you, might be able to help. Why do you need help? Because it is so hard to see yourself. It isn't necessary to have a psychotherapist be your mirror, but someone or other (or many people) has to help.
(to be continued)