How Can Counseling Prevent You from Hitting Rock Bottom?

HOW CAN COUNSELING PREVENT YOU FROM HITTING ROCK BOTTOM?

It you have ever hit rock bottom before, you know how difficult it is to pull yourself out of the persistent discomfort of feeling drained and exhausted. And worse, we sometimes find ourselves feeling as though we are back at square one after a period of relief. What am I doing wrong? Why does this always happen to me? I have the worst luck. These are just a few of the many thoughts one may ponder when they hit rock bottom.

It's normal to want to resist and push away uncomfortable emotions. But emotions, like energy (“e”motions = energy in motion), need to eventually move. When we resist feeling the discomfort caused by some emotions, they are stored in the body and gradually increase in intensity. The discomfort then becomes more and more difficult to manage over time, leaving us feeling heavy and drained.

Professional counseling can provide you with the tools needed to navigate emotional discomfort and the related symptoms you may be suffering from. Counseling can also assist in identifying the root causes of emotional dysregulation and further bring a sense of resolution to emotional disturbances that were not adequately addressed in the past.

Continue reading to see how counseling can help you better cope with uncomfortable emotions.  

WHY OPT FOR COUNSELING?

Counseling can help you navigate emotional, behavioral and psychological problems. Counselors are highly trained professionals that have an in-depth knowledge of human behavior and social-emotional wellness. They are equipped with a variety of interventions and tools that can help one navigate life’s daily stressors and improve overall health and wellness.

Here are a few ways that counseling can help you.

Confidence and Self-Esteem

Hitting rock bottom leaves us feeling stuck in a cycle of self-defeating thought patterns. This often has a significant impact on our relationships, career, and even our health. Understanding where these self-defeating thought patterns stem from, allows us to further challenge and replace them with alternative thought patterns that build confidence, self-worth, and further move us toward our life goals.

Navigating Intense Emotions 

Feeling uncomfortable and intense emotions can be exhausting and draining. And the more you avoid and resist feeling them, the more intense they become. A counselor can guide you in learning coping strategies that can help ease the intensity of emotions that cause discomfort. The more we are able to make sense of our feelings and emotions (i.e., root causes/experiences), the easier it is to navigate through it and ease the discomfort.

Managing Symptoms

Hitting rock bottom is an indicator that your current coping skills are no longer effective. Learning and building new and improved coping techniques is a significant benefit of counseling. In addition to exploring the root causes to our symptoms, counseling can assist you in finding coping strategies specific to your need (i.e., mindfulness techniques, thought-stopping, behavioral interventions, etc.). Utilizing coping skills to improve emotional regulation is an essential life-skill that everyone can benefit from in all areas of their life.

Self-Acceptance and Recognizing Your Value

We all have moments of insecurities around our physical features, talents, and other personality traits and characteristics. And sometimes, our perceived flaws can over-power our awareness to our strengths. Self-acceptance is part of the counseling experience. The counselor asks reflective questions allowing us to evaluate ourselves more objectively and further highlights ways we can draw on our strengths and realize our value. Self-acceptance is an ongoing journey that facilitates self-love, self-compassion, and increased self-assurance.

Offers A Secure Channel for Venting About Problems

Sometimes we don’t have a safe or stable place to express and process our emotions. Therapy can be that place for you. Processing daily stressors and their impact on our daily functioning can help bring relief and closure to many areas of our life. Processing our emotional experience creates space for more insight and helps facilitate movement towards our goals. The therapeutic relationship ensures confidentiality and safety in sharing the most vulnerable aspects of our lives, and also facilitates connection with self and others.

Finding a Counselor

Hitting rock bottom is not a pleasant place to be in and we often go to great lengths to avoid situations that could potentially lead us there. Additionally, feeling stuck in “rock bottom” circumstances can feel lonely and hopeless. Fortunately, there is help no matter where you fall on that spectrum.

Counselors specialize in a variety of techniques that inform their approach when working with clients.  It’s important to not get too discouraged if you don’t feel like you’re getting what you need from the therapeutic relationship. Sometimes it takes time to build rapport, but if it doesn’t feel like you’re connecting with your current counselor, it’s ok to have that conversation so that you can find someone who does fit your need.