Alternative Medicine Psychotherapy: What A Novel Idea

By Pauline Belton, LCPC-ACS, EdS, EDD

Open Conversations, LLC

. http://openconversationsllc.com/

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Alternative Medicine Psychotherapy: What A Novel Idea

Most of us will go to a physician when we have a cold or not feeling well. We go to the emergency room when we break a bone. We go to the chiropractor when we need a spinal adjustment. Yet seldom do we go seek a professional counselor or therapist when we feel like the world is falling all around us or there is a pain in the pit of our stomach and heart because life isn’t fair.

Learning to take care of our mental health is just as important as taking care of our physical health. We need to do both to live an authentic full life. Mental health care has evolved over the centuries to include a variety of ways to help individuals, families and couples to adapt to an ever-changing world. How we communicate (whether we are delivering or receiving the message) impacts every aspect of our lives and yet most of us are unaware of how we impact our relationships using our communication skills.

Albert Mehrabian (2007) currently a Professor of Psychology at UCLA, brought a unique awareness to how we communicate. According to Mehrabian, we have a distinct way of delivering and receiving communication when we are communicating feelings and attitudes. He suggests that 7% of the message pertaining to feelings and attitudes is the words that are spoken, 38% of the message pertaining to feeling and attitudes is the way the words are said and 55% of the messages pertaining to feelings and attitudes is in facial expression. Now, if we take a moment and reflect on how we communicate when we are “in our feelings and attitudes” we may learn more about how we impact the relationships we engage in everyday at work, school, home or play.

This is one of the most important aspects of therapy…communication. Learning how to communicate in our everyday relationships is so important to our livelihood yet communication can be a bit complicated when we are “in our feelings and attitudes”. A licensed professional counselor, also referred to as a therapist, can help individuals, families and couples to enhanced their communication skills and get on the path to improving the relationships we engage in on a daily basis.

Everyone deserves a therapist. Life happens one conversation at a time – find a therapist that fits you today.