Struggling with your mental health is always difficult. Even so, there are plenty of health care professionals, services and resources who can help you move along your journey. When you start to research help for your mental health challenges or disorder symptoms, you’ll likely come across the term “mental health counseling.” But what does that actually mean?
Mental health counseling can play a large role in helping you to improve the mental, emotional and behavioral patterns that are interfering with your overall quality of life. In this blog post, we’ll talk about the basics of the treatment and who it can help. We’ll also discuss what other levels of care may be beneficial to you, including those we offer at Lightfully Behavioral Health.
What you need to know about mental health counseling
Mental health counseling is a type of treatment that can help you improve your emotional, psychological and behavioral health that’s being impacted by a distressing life change, circumstance or event. It’s often described as a combination of psychotherapy and problem-solving.
A mental health counselor is a licensed health care professional who has earned a master’s degree or doctorate in counseling. They use their knowledge and expertise to provide both short-term and long-term guidance. They can support you with difficult decisions that are having a significant negative impact on your overall well-being. They can also help you manage complex and chronic mental health conditions.
A mental health counselor’s job includes:
- Assessing a person for mental health disorders, such as anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder and complicated grief
- Developing effective treatment plans for disorders
- Helping clients develop stress reduction skills and coping strategies for mental distress and disorder symptoms
- Improving a client’s decision-making and cognitive thinking skills
Who can benefit from mental health counseling?
It’s important to remember that you don’t need to have a diagnosable mental health disorder to seek professional help from a counselor. Everyone struggles with their mental health every now and then, especially when experiencing a difficult life transition, stressful circumstances or coping with a traumatic event.
There are many reasons why people seek mental health counseling, including:
- Relationship or family conflicts
- Coping with a life change, such as moving, a new job or divorce
- Habits that are interfering with goals and productivity, such as procrastination
- Coping with a traumatic event or experience
- Recurring panic or anxiety attacks
- Dealing with grief and loss
- Trouble managing and alleviating stress
A big advantage of mental health counseling is that it can be used to help individuals as well as a team in a group setting.
Options to explore beyond mental health counseling for higher-acuity clients
Mental health counseling can make a significant difference in your overall quality of life. However, it’s often the most effective for alleviating specific issues or problems. Even though a mental health counselor can assess mental health disorders, they specialize in short-term support. If you need additional long-term support for a high-acuity condition, such as depression, anxiety or suicidality, there may be other levels of care worth exploring.
If you’re looking for long-term or more intensive mental health support than what could be provided in mental health counseling, here are options worth considering that we offer at Lightfully Behavioral Health:
- Outpatient therapy — If you find that you’re continuously struggling with your mental health disorder symptoms, or you just want to talk to an unbiased third party about everyday stress, then seeing an outpatient therapist may be the way to go. Having weekly or biweekly sessions with a psychotherapist can help you get to the root of your distress. They’ll also help you develop the skills you need to deal with them.
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) — If your disorder symptoms are interfering with your quality of life, then our IOP could be helpful. It’s a structured program over the course of approximately three weeks where you can feel supported throughout your mental health journey. It includes one-on-one therapy sessions, daily group sessions and up to six hours of programming per day.
- Residential Treatment Center (RTC) — If you need 24/7 behavioral support for your disorder, then our RTC gives you a safe space to manage your symptoms. It allows you to focus solely on your mental health. In a home-like setting, you’ll have a structured schedule. It includes Safe & Sound emotion regulation sessions, on-site yoga, and weekly outings.
We don’t provide mental health counseling at Lightfully. However, we can work with your counselor and other health care providers. We’ll ensure that our levels of care are tailored to your particular needs and symptoms. All of our levels of care, including RTC and IOP, consist of evidence-based, clearly defined, data-driven and whole-person-centered care.
Change is possible. When you’re ready to take the first step, reach out to our Admissions Concierge Team. We’ll take the next steps together, toward the fullest, brightest version of you.
