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What Are Helpful Types of Therapy For Your Mental Health?
There are so many different styles of therapy and different types of therapists out there that can help with managing mental health and chronic illness. The different types of therapy that help with my mental health and my overall health are my actual therapist (talk therapy) and my massage therapist. I have also tried other types of therapy that I had some mental benefit from including reflexology and reiki.
I find that when I am able to talk openly and honestly about my mental health with a therapist it helps me so much. It helps me to look at things with a different perspective and it also teaches me not to be so hard on myself. There are so many times that she helps to remind me that I am doing the best I can and there are other times where she gives me the wake-up call that I may need. It took me awhile to trust someone enough to let them into the many parts of my mind, but it has been so helpful in helping me advocate for myself as a patient and as a person.
What types of therapy have been most beneficial for you? Is there a specific therapy style that your therapist has? ex) talk therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, etc. Have you tried other forms of therapy like reflexology, reiki, massage therapy, etc for mental health?
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2 Replies
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Hello, Brittany!
I can’t say anything on this issue, because all of your listed therapies are not available to me. I know I could really use some conversational therapy, because sometimes I just need to talk. Indeed, sometimes we need someone to remind us that we should not be strict with ourselves, we should take care of ourselves. You’re right that it’s hard to trust someone and reveal your painful points, but it’s helpful. If I could find the right person, I would try to help him understand me, so he would help me.
I am interested in your words about massage therapist. I’m always very tense, sometimes my back hurts, my neck. Sometimes I want to relax somehow, I would love to go for a massage. But cardiologists with neurologists tell me that I can only do a foot massage. But I had an unpleasant meeting with a masseur, which was going to do a foot massage. So I use massage balls and sometimes use a foot bath with vibro massage. What kind of massage do you get?-
Hi Valerie,
Yes, talk therapy is so beneficial. It’s not like they are trying to do anything to change you or make you different it’s more like someone to talk to that helps you see your own ways of thinking and decide for yourself how you want to change or what you want to work on. I don’t feel forced into “fixing” myself and it just helps to get that outsider perspective, even though I have been with the same therapist for almost 7 years now so she’s not exactly an “outsider” anymore lol!For a “foot massage” I would do some research into reflexology and see if there are any good reflexologists in your area. That is a foot massage but also a type of holistic healing that works on different parts of the body through your feet (hard to explain but check it out and read up about it a little and let me know your thoughts about it).
The massage that I do is with a medical muscular massage therapist. It is a deep tissue massage and she does a lot of work on my back, neck, and shoulders because that is where a lot of my stress is kept and also the muscles that I use to breathe since I rely on my accessory muscles vs my chest wall. She also helps with circulation by doing lymphatic drainage techniques. It’s a great form of holistic therapy too (along with taking medications as prescribed of course!)
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