If you’re suffering with anxiety or depression, you’re not alone. Over one-third of Americans struggle with these mental health conditions, which affect more than your mood and may impact your overall health.
While medications can help, for many people they aren’t enough to ease the problematic symptoms mental health disorders can cause. When not well managed, anxiety and depression can make life a challenge, causing trouble with sleep, low mood, issues with weight, lack of energy, and more.
At Houston Family MD, board-certified family medicine physician Ranjit Grewal, MD, and our compassionate care team are committed to helping patients in the Houston, Texas, area achieve the best health possible — including their mental health.
If you have anxiety or depression and have noticed your quality of life diminish, take a moment to learn how talk therapy can turn things around.
Frequently called psychotherapy, talk therapy is one type of treatment used to help patients manage different mental health and emotional conditions, including anxiety and depression. During talk therapy sessions, your licensed mental health provider works with you to improve your wellbeing.
The heart of talk therapy involves allowing you to discuss and explore your concerns, challenges, past traumas, and emotions with a non-biased, non-judgmental counselor. Over the course of treatment, your counselor may help you:
Talk therapy sessions are strictly confidential, so your privacy is always protected.
No. The exact nature of your therapy sessions depends on the type of talk therapist you choose. The American Psychological Association identifies five broad categories of talk therapy:
All types of talk therapy have helped people overcome emotional and mental health conditions, and the right choice for you depends on your condition and personal preferences.
For example, research shows that CBT can be especially effective for people with anxiety. Other studies demonstrate humanistic therapy can be particularly helpful for people struggling with low self-esteem or lacking direction in their life.
Talk therapy helps improve your quality of life in many ways. By helping you communicate your concerns, fears, struggles, and other problematic symptoms in a safe space, you gain a better understanding of these issues and work to create healthy coping strategies so you can better manage your emotions and mental health.
As you begin to develop better insights about yourself and your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, many patients feel better equipped to cope with challenges and struggles and feel hopeful about their future.
Talk therapy can even help you overcome issues related to chronic pain and other physical problems and reduce your dependency on pain medications. For example, a recent study found talk therapy to be more effective than other treatments, including physical therapy, in managing chronic low back pain.
If you’re struggling with emotional or mental health concerns and want to know if talk therapy is right for you, it’s important to talk to Dr. Grewal about your symptoms.
Some medical conditions can trigger similar symptoms, and he rules these out through a careful review of your medical history, physical exam, and any necessary lab work or diagnostic tests.
Dr. Grewal then administers a comprehensive mental health evaluation to accurately diagnose your condition. Depending on your needs, your Houston Family MD provider creates a personalized treatment plan that may recommend one or a combination of therapies, including lifestyle changes, medication, and talk therapy.
You don’t have to feel depressed or anxious. If you’re ready to improve your quality of life, Dr. Grewal and the team at Houston Family MD can help. Schedule an appointment online or over the phone to get started.
