We live in a world with considerable information right at our fingertips. We can find information on nearly anything, especially in the medical field, where we can find the symptoms of the most obscure diseases or learn details about treatments otherwise only provided by those with Ph.Ds.
But this information can cause its own challenges. Most of us are familiar with what was once called the “WebMD Effect,” where a person convinces themselves they have a rare disease because their symptoms match what they find online, only for it to be something like the common cold.
Mental health can be similar, though the risks are different. Depending on your symptoms, you may be able to figure out what condition you struggle with – for example, if you have panic attacks, and the symptoms match, you probably have panic disorder – but self-diagnosing carries its own unique risks, which is why it is so important to speak with a professional.
Risks of Self-Diagnosis of Mental Illness
It’s first important to realize that, while it may be loosely possible to understand your mental health challenges, it’s also possible to be wrong. Depression, for example, can be triggered by anxiety where anxiety is the primary mental health challenge, not the depression. Some conditions, like binge eating disorder, can also be misunderstood.
But even if you can generally tell what mental health challenge you have, there are other issues that make it less ideal to self-diagnose. These include:
Meaninglessness of Labels – Labeling something “anxiety” or “depression” can be useful for insurance agencies, but for each individual it is often too broad a label to specifically describe their symptoms. Labeling yourself with that type of condition misses the wide range of symptoms and experiences people have, and potentially cause you to misunderstand parts of yourself.
Adopting the Identity – Some people also fall into the trap of adopting a mental health challenge as an identity. They see they have “depression” and they view the rest of their behaviors as though their depression defines them. They try to understand more about themselves through the depression and through other things they read rather than truly take the time to better understand their own behaviors.
Trying to Self-Treat – Self-diagnosis can also lead to self-treatment, which is typically not the best idea. Remember, even within specific disorders, an individual’s experience can vary considerably, and the way you address treating the disorder may be dramatically different from someone else’s if you hope to have real breakthroughs.
Treating One But Not Others – Many people struggle with more than one condition, known as “comorbidity.” But many people stop diagnosing themselves after they’ve discovered the first condition, and try to treat it without addressing other, concurrent conditions.
In our work, we also often find that people that self-diagnose will also delay treatment, treat themselves using incorrect beliefs, or otherwise look for someone to treat them based on what they read rather than what they need.
Remember, a “condition” like anxiety or depression is just a broad name for a number of unique experiences. Symptoms may have similarities, but causes, expressions, challenges, and solutions can vary so much that a self-diagnosis doesn’t necessarily provide you with what you need to move forward.
Instead of self-diagnosing or worrying about the name of your mental health challenges, the most important thing is to recognize that you can benefit from help. Once you make that determination, give Flourish Psychology a call today.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a widely used therapeutic approach that addresses dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic process. While CBT is well known as a treatment for a variety of mental health conditions, it is not a single treatment but one of many techniques that are all focused on addressing cognitions and behaviors under the same philosophy.
Guided Discovery is one such CBT technique. The technique involves the therapist desiring and working towards helping the client discover insights and solutions into themselves, rather than providing any direct advice or interpretation.
How Guided Discovery Works and Why It’s Used
Guided Discovery is based on the principle that clients often have the capacity to resolve their own problems – and may benefit from solving problems for themselves – but may need help in doing so. The therapist uses a collaborative and Socratic questioning style (what do you mean by that? Why do you think you think that?) to guide clients in exploring their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and in understanding the connections among them. Components of Guided Discovery include:
Collaborative Empiricism – This approach involves working together to investigate the client’s thoughts and beliefs and their validity or usefulness.
Socratic Questioning – The therapist uses thoughtful, open-ended questions to encourage deeper reflection and exploration of a client’s experiences and beliefs.
Self-Discovery – The goal is for clients to arrive at insights and answers independently, leading to a more profound and lasting understanding of their issues.
Typically, the therapist has an idea of what they want the client to realize and achieve. But they want the client to determine it for themselves, so that it comes from a deeper self-understanding rather than being told by someone what they need to do and causing them to potentially become defensive or ignore the advice.
Example of How Guided Discovery Works
Patients with anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions typically struggle with negative thinking, black/white thinking, and other similar issues. For example, a client may feel like a failure because of a mistake they made at work. The therapist will then ask questions to explore this belief, such as “What evidence do we have that making a mistake equates to being a failure?” or “How do you define failure and success?”
The patient could say “everyone makes mistakes, it’s not a failure,” but telling a patient that is often not as effective. Instead, as the client answers these questions, they begin to notice and see for themselves that the making a mistake is a common human experience, and not indicative of failure.
Your Therapist, CBT, and Guided Discovery
Our therapists only use guided discovery when appropriate, along with other CBT and psychotherapy principles. But when it is utilized, it can be very effective for helping patients truly understand more about themselves. This approach respects the client’s autonomy and encourages active participation in therapy, leading to more meaningful and sustainable change.
Guided Discovery in CBT is a powerful tool that fosters self-awareness and personal growth. By helping clients to understand their thought processes, emotional responses, and behavior patterns, therapists enable them to develop more adaptive ways of thinking and behaving. Guided Discovery exemplifies the collaborative nature of CBT, emphasizing the role of the therapist as a facilitator in the client’s journey towards better mental health.
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) is a therapeutic approach primarily applied in the treatment of individuals and couples. It is particularly noted for its emphasis on the role of emotions in human functioning and therapeutic change. One of the key components of EFT is the concept of “restructuring,” a process integral to achieving lasting emotional change.
Understanding Restructuring in EFT
Restructuring within EFT is rooted in the theoretical framework that emotions are not merely internal experiences, but also play a crucial role in organizing our thoughts, behaviors, and interactions. Restructuring, then, is a way of modifying the emotional experiences and expressions that lead to problems in a person’s life. EFT itself involves:
Identifying Core Emotional Issues – EFT begins with a clear identification of the core emotional issues that are at the root of a client’s distress. This involves exploring and articulating the emotions that underlie dysfunctional patterns of behavior or thought.
Accessing and Exploring Emotions – Clients are encouraged to access and explore their emotional experiences. This step is crucial for understanding the impact of these emotions on their behavior and interpersonal relationships.
Transforming Emotions – Restructuring is not just about identifying and understanding emotions but also about transforming them. This involves helping clients alter their emotional responses and develop healthier, more adaptive emotional experiences.
Promoting Emotional Engagement – Clients are guided to engage with their emotions in a more direct and profound way. This includes facing fears, resolving internal conflicts, and addressing unmet needs.
Once a client has gained a better understanding of what their emotions are and how they affect them, they may be asked by their therapist to start restructuring those emotions.
The Process of Restructuring in EFT
The restructuring process in EFT occurs in stages, and is completed with your therapist to help you understand more about your emotions as you move forward. The process includes techniques such as:
De-escalation of Negative Interaction Patterns – In the context of couples therapy, the therapist helps the couple recognize and de-escalate negative interaction patterns that are fueled by underlying emotions.
Reframing and Reinterpretation – Clients are encouraged to reframe their emotional experiences and reinterpret their significance in a more adaptive manner.
Creating New Emotional Experiences – The therapist facilitates the creation of new, positive emotional experiences that can counteract the effects of negative emotions.
Consolidation and Integration – Finally, the new emotional experiences and understandings are consolidated and integrated into the client’s daily life, promoting lasting change.
Restructuring in Emotion Focused Therapy is a multi-layered process. It involves identifying, accessing, transforming, and ultimately integrating emotions in a way that promotes emotional health and wellbeing.
By focusing on emotions as key agents of change, EFT facilitates profound and lasting transformation in clients, aiding them in navigating their emotional landscapes more effectively. This therapeutic approach underscores the centrality of emotions in personal growth and relationship repair, making it a valuable tool in the realm of psychological therapies.
Every year, right around this time, thousands of people in NYC struggle with depression that did not have depression only a few months ago. Sometimes, this depression is caused by recent life experiences. But other times, it’s caused by a condition known as “seasonal affective disorder,” often referred to in shorthand as “Seasonal Depression.”
Seasonal depression is caused by two distinct factors that often work together:
Low Light Exposure – Light is one of the ways our brain “wakes up” and positively processes the world. It needs light in order to create good feeling neurotransmitters and hormones.
Stresses and Traumas – The holiday season is a time when there are family stresses, personal traumas, and more that can make it more difficult to cope.
Seasonal depression can affect anyone, anywhere, during the colder winter months. But it is especially a challenge here in New York City, and it’s important for those in the region to understand why so that they can identify the issues as they arise and make the necessary steps to address them.
How Could NYC Be at Greater Risk of Seasonal Depression?
Seasonal affective disorder is primarily caused by a lack of access to sunlight. Though this is not the only cause – nor the only one that affects people in New York City, which we’ll get to in a moment – it is one that specifically affects people here more so than some other areas of the country.
Skyscrapers – Winter means that the days grow shorter, which means there is less light after 4pm. Most of us are working during the only sunny hours. But what can make that worse is that whatever light there is can sometimes be blocked by the large buildings and skyscrapers in New York. It means that we aren’t even seeing as much light as other people are during the day.
Cold – NYC gets extremely cold. Cold keeps people indoors, which in turn means less light exposure. Cold is not unique to this region, but there are certainly some areas of the country – especially down south and in California – that experience more warmth than we do which makes it a bit easier to be outside.
Lack of Green Areas – Even if someone wanted to be outside in the colder weather, it’s harder here, because there aren’t many green areas to explore. Outside of Central Park, most of the activities in New York City take place indoors, which means that many are already receiving less light simply because of the activities available.
Winter is also rainy season, which can sometimes mean more clouds and even less lighting. Winter, throughout the entire country, means that there is less light and thus an increased risk of seasonal affective disorder, but here in NYC, that risk is even greater.
Other Uniquely New York City Factors for Seasonal Depression
Seasonal depression’s link to light is the primary reason we are at greater risk for issues here in New York City. But it is not the only reason. There are other factors that are more common in New York than other places, including:
Financial Stress – NYC is expensive. Many people, even those with good incomes, are doing their best to get by. Gift buying and hosting cost money, increasing the likelihood of financial stress.
Shopping – As you look for gifts, you may also notice that – in our heavily populated city – shopping is harder. There are more people to push through. Introverts that may struggle in groups can find this season very difficult.
Limited Stress Relief Time – We all know how busy and active NYC is, more so than other cities in the United States. Because the holidays can be a stressful time, many of us need to find time to unwind. But here in New York, it can be hard to find that time, which means you have fewer opportunities to refresh.
These are only some of the reasons that seasonal affective disorder can be more difficult in NYC.
Treatment for Seasonal Depression in NYC from Flourish Psychology
Flourish Psychology is committed to helping those with seasonal depression – and those that are struggling to manage their day to day life – find relief and value in themselves. We are a boutique private practice that offers several distinctive treatments for season depression through therapy and other mental health approaches. If you would like to learn more, or you feel like you may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder, contact Flourish Psychology, today.
Within the field of psychotherapy, various approaches offer unique perspectives and techniques for addressing mental health issues. Among these, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are two prominent modalities.
While they share some commonalities, their philosophies and methods also present distinct differences that can support patients as they address. At Flourish Psychology, we may integrate one or both of these treatment approaches as needed to help you with your wellness and recovery. But as you talk to your therapist about the different options, we understand that you may have questions.
Common Ground – CBT and ACT
CBT and ACT, at their core, are both forms of behavioral therapy that emphasize the impact of thoughts on feelings and behaviors. They share a fundamental belief in the interconnectedness of thoughts, emotions, and actions. They have many similarities, including:
Goal-Oriented and Structured – Both therapies are structured and goal-oriented, focusing on helping individuals achieve specific outcomes.
Empowering Individuals – Both approaches aim to empower the individual, equipping them with tools and strategies to manage and improve their mental health.
Evidence-Based – Both CBT and ACT are grounded in research and evidence, demonstrating effectiveness in treating a range of psychological issues.
These similarities are not unexpected, because ACT was developed specifically because of CBT, despite having its own unique differences.
Differences Between CBT and ACT
While sharing some similarities, CBT and ACT diverge significantly in their approach to thoughts and emotions:
CBT’s Focus on Change – CBT is centered around identifying and changing negative or distorted thought patterns. It teaches individuals to challenge and reframe these thoughts to alter emotional responses and behaviors.
ACT’s Emphasis on Acceptance – In contrast, ACT focuses on accepting thoughts and feelings without trying to change them. It advocates for a mindful approach to observe one’s experiences without judgment, learning to coexist with them rather than control them.
The techniques used in CBT and ACT also reflect their philosophical differences:
CBT Techniques – CBT employs techniques like cognitive restructuring to challenge and change negative thoughts, and behavioral experiments to test these thoughts against reality.
ACT Techniques – ACT uses mindfulness and acceptance strategies, helping individuals to develop psychological flexibility. It encourages embracing one’s thoughts and feelings rather than fighting them, and committing to actions that align with personal values.
Despite their differences, CBT and ACT can be complementary. For some, the direct approach of CBT in tackling and changing negative thoughts can be profoundly effective. For others, the acceptance-based approach of ACT can offer a more suitable path, especially for those who may find the constant challenge of thoughts in CBT to be overwhelming.
Working with Your Therapist on Treatment Approaches
While CBT and ACT share some commonalities in their approach to mental health, they offer distinct perspectives on handling thoughts and emotions. CBT’s focus on changing thought patterns contrasts with ACT’s emphasis on accepting and living in harmony with them.
Understanding these differences is crucial for therapists and individuals alike in choosing the most appropriate approach for their unique mental health needs. Whether through changing or accepting thoughts, both therapies ultimately strive towards the common goal of improved mental well-being.
Location: 300 Cadman Plaza West Floor 12 - Brooklyn, NY 11201
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