A Great Therapist for Anxiety

A great therapist for anxiety will be open, receptive and understanding of you. He or she will follow your lead on the journey of therapy and be helpful with experience and insight along the way. Since communication is the main instrument of psychotherapy, your therapist will help you with communication patterns you have with yourself and the world. A good therapist needs to pick up on issues quickly and, at the same time, connect with you in a way that real work can be done.

Even a beginning therapist can be very good when he or she is interested and inquisitive, reacts to situations with the desire to find out, and is creative. You should have the feeling in the therapist’s office that this is a safe and free space where you can talk about the things that matter to you. Creativity means that your therapist should be able to respond quickly to your needs and what happens in therapy. As mentioned, the communication between the two of you is where the work is done. By looking at communication patterns, your therapist will help you. Communication is the tool of change. Working with communication patterns is how work is getting done.

The Power of Communication Patterns

Therapy happens through the interaction between people. A meaningful question has the power to bring about change. Yet, there are many other communications that can do so as well. Communication elements, in turn, make up communication patterns. For example, summarizing or describing how one sees things can be helpful in getting change. In general, any communication that is meaningful has the potential to bring about change.

Life depends on the movement of information, and information is the foundation of all the phenomena we see in the world around us. The sense of self is the experience of these communication flows. Building a greater sense of self, more self-confidence, and greater self-esteem connects intimately with our communication with ourselves and the world. A good therapist can help you change your communication patterns through their communication with you. However, this also means you need to feel comfortable with your therapist.

The ‘We’ and Anxiety

The work you do with your therapist is communal work. There should always be a ‘we’. Particularly when you suffer from anxiety, you should have a sense that you are working together with your therapist. Anxiety is about uncertainty, and experiencing a strong bond with the therapist can help against anxiety. There may be reasons from the past why you may feel you have to be vigilant in relationships. Therapy should be a place where one can practice communication and trust in interpersonal relationships. At the same time, therapy needs to offer the platform to do work.

Listening

You should feel that your therapist is listening to you. This not only means listening to the words but also the meaning between the words. True, the therapist is not a mind reader or clairvoyant. However, a good therapist will try to pick up as much information as possible to help you. Listening is an art form, and the therapist also needs to be an artist to help you effectively. While there is a lot of research on psychotherapy, you are unique. Thus, the therapist always has to improvise to some extent within the boundaries of good science.

Going Beyond Anxiety

The starting point of therapy is the symptoms you are experiencing now. However, the ultimate goal is to help you rediscover your meaning, direction, and happiness in life. When we do things that align with who we are, our needs, values, and aspirations, we will experience less uncertainty. And thus, we feel less anxious. We do what we love and live in a world that makes sense.

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