“Can psychotherapy make you worse?”
I want to have psychotherapy for my depression. Can psychotherapy make you worse?
8 Answers
No, I would not say psychotherapy makes someone "worse". It may cause some uneasy feelings at first, as it makes you face certain issues and challenges that you may have been supressing or avoiding, but this is a necessary part of the healing process.
Maybe. It depends.
Psychotherapy can make things worse if you've been burying things (purposefully or not on purpose) and psychotherapy brings them up to help you face them. For certain people and certain situations, it can get worse before it gets better, but that's not usually what I see. I typically see those with depression seeking therapy greatly benefitting from consistent talk therapy to genuinely look at thoughts, feelings, situations, and deal with them instead of letting them fester and cause issues.
There are lows, but the lows become less painful and the highs get higher. Psychotherapy will make you happier over time. When you experience the lows, there are a few ways to cope. You can reach out to your therapist and see if he or she has any feedback. Your therapist will comfort you and might offer insights similar to the ones in this article.
Regarding psychotherapy, there are a number of potential adverse effects which are discussed, ranging from worsened or novel symptoms, such as symptom substitution , to dependence from the therapist stigmatization relationship problems or even separation as well as misuse of alcohol or drugs.
Discussing stressors, triggers and distressful events during the therapy process may at times bring moments of sadness or depression, as well as anxiety. The prolonged frequency and intensity of such feelings and related thoughts, can potentially worsen symptoms. However, many therapists can be supportive of clients and can provide clients with therapeutic tools, so the thinking styles related to "dwelling in the past", do not further trigger a worsening of symptoms. How frequently an individual may think about the past or into the future can trigger either depression or anxiety. In this case, mindfulness based approaches may be helpful to assist in managing the symptoms, to avoid the worsening of symptoms.
It would be most unusual and quite unexpected for psychotherapy to make depression symptoms worse.
If you experienced trauma, delving into those issues can temporarily worsen symptoms (short-term), but they will resolve if you stick with the treatment if you are working with a trauma therapist.
If you experienced trauma, delving into those issues can temporarily worsen symptoms (short-term), but they will resolve if you stick with the treatment if you are working with a trauma therapist.
See this link:https://psychotherapyconsultants.co.uk/can-going-to-therapy-make-you-worse-5/#:~:text=One%20possible%20reason%20that%20therapy%20can%20make%20you,you%E2%80%99ll%20feel%20better%20in%20no%20time%20at%20all.
