7.Make sure you are seeing progress; don't stop if you are feeling better.  

7. Make sure you are seeing progress; don't stop if you are feeling better.  

I can honestly see a lot of therapists nodding their heads in one room if I was talking about it driving us crazy when clients keep disappearing when they feel better. The same clients will likely reappear when they don't feel better and maybe feel bad they are reappearing. More often than not, the same clients who disappear when they feel better often deny or dismiss they have a stigma to mental health services or are unaware they do. We all have stigma to mental health services because of the history we come from. 

Maybe if all therapists had a magic wand we would wish for our approach to mental health not to be one of pathology where there is something wrong with us, and that's why we are seeking so-called help, but one of executive functioning: one where we are constantly growing and activating our front brains, which seat everything that makes us truly human: forgiveness, empathy, compassion, inclusivity, benevolence, conscientiousness, foresight, critical thinking, humor, going with the flow, and so forth. If we took this approach, perhaps our world would not be so corrupt, suffering from so much dehumanization, cognitive dissonance, and so forth, which makes all our hearts heavy and us isolated as a community rather than a collective family.

So how do you not stop going to therapy if you feel better? It's just the beginning. You gotta look at it as if you improve your mood, you're more capable of deeper work. If your top end improves, it can become your bottom end. Also, if you increase your bottom end, your top end will also improve. I can see a great chart or infographic here, but while I work on that, just know that what we want as therapists is for you to increase your capacity to endure and sit with and process pain, understanding your emotions as your greatest guides and applying exercises and tools in your hardest moments. Our dream as therapists is to reprocess past trauma and critical incidents so your overall coping strategies improve. Many of us as therapists are just not in the business of handing out short-term coping strategies for short-term gain; what we really genuinely want is for you to become an expert on yourself, understanding how your past affects your present, becoming more alive in the present, and realizing your future is totally within your control and your potential is limitless. For you to feel all this is our work, done.

Summary  

We explore a compelling shift in how mental health should be approached, emphasizing growth and executive functioning rather than pathology. We also suggest that focusing on positive human traits like empathy and critical thinking could create a more compassionate and connected society. This idea advocates for a more holistic, inclusive view of mental health that addresses societal issues like corruption and isolation.  

We convey the complexity of therapy and emphasize that feeling better is just the beginning of deeper work. We highlight that therapy is a continuous journey aimed at enhancing emotional resilience and self-awareness, urging clients to persist in their therapeutic work even when they feel improved.

Lee Park, RCT-C, MA, BHons
www.canadaonlinetherapy.com