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What does it mean to write as self-therapy?
You write down what keeps you preoccupied, what goes on in your head and how you feel. It is a way to make yourself (more) aware of your thoughts and how they influence your behaviour. You can consider it as a form of self-therapy. There are many different strategies used in cognitive behaviour therapy, such as journaling, role-playing, relaxation techniques, and mental distraction. Journal writing, or journaling, involves writing down your thoughts and emotions on paper. Journaling exercises bring amazing benefits for your mental health and well-being. It’s a great way to deal with anxious thoughts because it brings awareness to the present. Self-talk is a healthy way to build motivation, calm nerves or analyze a tricky situation. “It’s a useful way to check in with yourself and organize thoughts and feelings,” says health psychologist Grace Tworek, PsyD. Therapeutic journaling is the process of writing down our thoughts and feelings about our personal experiences. This kind of private reflection allows us to sort through events that have occurred and problems that we may be struggling with.
Is self therapy better?
Some research suggests self-therapy can be a valuable tool for people with mild to moderate symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges. But being your own therapist isn’t the first choice of intervention for all cases. It could certainly be a complementary effort. There are multiple options for doing CBT without a therapist, including self-help books and Internet-based treatment. Many studies have shown that self-directed CBT can be very effective. Mental health books cannot replace therapy or treatment, especially if you’ve been diagnosed with a mental health condition. But they can be a helpful add-on to your healing journey. While a journal cannot replace a therapist, it can be therapeutic. What a journal can do is help you to notice patterns in your behaviour and emotional responses. It’s an opportunity to reflect on your experiences, feelings, thoughts and behaviour. The American Psychological Association suggests you consider a time to see a therapist when something causes distress and interferes with some part of life, particularly when: Thinking about or coping with the issue takes up at least an hour each day. The issue causes embarrassment or makes you want to avoid others. Engaging in a self-care routine has been clinically proven to reduce or eliminate anxiety and depression, reduce stress, improve concentration, minimize frustration and anger, increase happiness, improve energy, and more.
Why is self therapy important?
Engaging in a self-care routine has been clinically proven to reduce or eliminate anxiety and depression, reduce stress, improve concentration, minimize frustration and anger, increase happiness, improve energy, and more. Below are several examples of how you can nurture yourself and make self-renewal a part of your everyday life in the four areas of self-care: physical, emotional, spiritual and mental. Many studies have found that self-directed CBT can be very effective. Two reviews that each included over 30 studies (see references below) found that self-help treatment significantly reduced both anxiety and depression, especially when the treatments used CBT techniques. Another thing you may notice is that ‘self-help therapy’ and ‘self-therapy’ are very often used to describe Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).