Talking about mental health in today’s society is increasingly advertised and people are encouraged to bring their more and more advertised and people are encouraged to bring their own struggles into the conversation regardless of their gender, age, race, culture or belief.
I feel that sometimes we forget that we are social beings, and we are experiencing ourselves as individuals fighting to survive the day-to-day challenges (Cozolino and Buczynski, 2011). In the age of social media, people forget how to talk to each other and hide behind a screen, sometimes posting shouts for help, but instead of getting help met they receive an emoji as a reply. This can lead to feeling lonely and misunderstood by others, self-isolation and a decrease in mental health.
We are born to connect with each other (Fishbane, 2014), and what better way to connect than through talking, but also through listening to others that might be going through mental health issues themselves? Our mind is social (Hanna, 2021), and talking about our struggles can help the brain re-wire and form new neuropathways in order to create and sustain healthy behaviours to improve our well-being. If people are able to talk through their problems, they can survive anything (Cozolino and Buczynski, 2011).
Talking therapies are efficient because talking is a key part of communication. As a relationship counsellor, I encourage people to talk to each other, and every time when a person opens up to another the healing process begins, and people re-connect and re-discover themselves.
Vasile
Counsellor, Relate Bradford & Leeds
Cozolino, L. and Buczynski, R. (2011). The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: A Teleseminar Session with Louis Cozolino, PhD. and Ruth Buczynski, PhD. The National Institute for Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine. [Online]. Available from: http://www.itineriscoaching.com/. [Accessed 13 December 2022].
Fishbane, M. D. (2014). “News from Neuroscience”: Applications to Couple Therapy. American Family Therapy Academy. Pp. 83-92. [Online]. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/. [Accessed 12 December 2022].
Hanna, S. M. (2021). The Transparent Brain in Couple and Family Therapy. 2nd ed. New York. Routledge.
