Women's Mental Health - Types of Therapy

Hi Ladies,

Please don't feel offended or ashamed of the terms women's mental health, when being applied to you/us specifically. After age 40 so much is happening to us, so many changes and transitions. We don't understand what is going on in our bodies. This means the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual parts of our bodies.

A discussion of women's mental health will usually entail therapy of some sort. There is no way to avoid it. O.K.?

In this article, try to see the connections between women's mental health and her family. She is involved and a primary member. She may have her own personal mental health problems as well as those of her children and family. Women have a tremendous burden on their shoulders--and her mental health is strained and affected, to say the least.

What is therapy?

Women's mental health therapy is a way to help you understand yourself better and to cope better. Being in therapy does not mean you are crazy. Everyone has problems. Therapy is one way to help yourself with your problems.

Some of the problems that can be helped with therapy include:

• depression
• anxiety
• drug or alcohol abuse
• eating disorders
• sleep problems
• anger
• grief

There are many different types of women's mental health therapies, which work well for other's also. One kind of therapy might work best for you, such as play therapy for small children, or family therapy for family conflicts. The kind of therapy that is best for you depends on what best meets your needs.

What types of women's mental health therapies are there?

The more common types of therapy are:

Art Therapy. Drawing, painting, or working with clay with an art therapist can help you express things that you may not be able to put into words. Art therapists work with children, teens, and adults, including people with disabilities.

Behavioral Therapy-works well for women's mental health issues. This type of therapy is very structured and goal oriented. It starts with what you are doing now, and then helps you change your behavior. Behavioral therapists may use techniques such as:

• Exposure therapy or desensitization. First you learn ways to relax. Then you learn to face your fears while you practice these relaxation skills.
• Aversive therapy. This pairs something unpleasant with a behavior to help you stop the behavior. For example, putting something that tastes bitter on a child's thumb to help stop thumb-sucking.
• Role-playing. This may help you be more assertive or help resolve conflicts between family members.
• Self-monitoring, or keeping a log of your daily activities. This may help identify which behaviors are causing you problems.

Biofeedback. This type of therapy can help you learn to control body functions such as muscle tension or brain wave patterns. Biofeedback can help with tension, anxiety, and physical symptoms such as headaches.

Cognitive Therapy. This type of therapy takes the approach that how you think affects how you feel and behave. This therapy helps you recognize unhealthy ways of thinking that keep you stuck. You learn to identify automatic negative thoughts such as:

• "I never do anything right"
• "The world is always against me"
• "If I don't succeed all the time I am a failure."

You learn how to change your thoughts and this can lead to changed behaviors. It can also improve self-esteem and confidence. Cognitive-behavioral therapy combines behavior and cognitive therapy methods.

EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing). In EMDR the therapist helps you cope with feelings and thoughts about distressing past events. You move your eyes back and forth, usually following the therapist's hand or pen, while you recall the event. This type of therapy is considered by many to be experimental.

Women's mental health/Family or Couples Therapy. Family therapists view the family as a system. They work with the whole family rather than just one person. The goal is for family members to openly their express feelings and to find ways to change negative family patterns.

Women's mental health related to Couples therapy helps partners improve their ability to communicate with each other. It may help you decide what changes are needed in the relationship and in the behavior of each partner. Both partners then work to learn new behaviors. There are different forms of couples therapy.

Women's mental health/Group Therapy. In group therapy a small number of people (6 to 10) meet regularly with a therapist. There are many types of therapy groups. Some focus on a specific problem such as anger management. Process groups do not focus on a single topic, but instead explore issues raised by members. Short-term groups are problem-focused and meet for a limited time, such as 6 to 12 weeks. Long-term groups deal with ongoing issues such as self-esteem.

Massage Therapy. Massage therapy may help to reduce anxiety and stress.

Women's mental health and Pharmacological Therapy (Medicines). Medicines can help improve your mental well-being. They may be prescribed by a psychiatrist or your healthcare provider. Your provider will work with you to carefully select the right medicine for you. There are many kinds of psychiatric medicines.

• Antipsychotics may help with psychosis or other conditions.
• Mood stabilizers may be used to treat mood problems such as bipolar disorder.
• Antidepressants may help with depression or anxiety.
• Antianxiety medicines may be prescribed to treat anxiety disorders.

The right medicine may improve symptoms so that other kinds of treatment are more effective. Medicines may also be used alone.

Play Therapy. Play therapy allows children to act out their problems with toys and games. Play therapists help a child feel more confident and less fearful.

Psychoanalytic Therapy. This type of therapy was developed by Sigmund Freud. In this type of therapy, you work to uncover things from your past that affect your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This kind of therapy can take years. It usually involves meeting several times a week. It can be quite costly.

Psychodynamic Therapy. This type of therapy helps you bring your true feelings to the surface. If you repress (purposely forget) or deny painful thoughts, feelings, and memories, they can still affect your life. Once you are aware of these repressed thoughts, feelings, and memories they become less painful.

Psychoeducational Therapy. This type of therapy involves the therapist teaching instead of the client talking. You may learn about disorders, treatment options, and how to cope with symptoms. Therapists may provide you with useful information or may help you learn different skills. They work with individuals and groups.

Relaxation Therapies. Learning ways to relax can help to reduce anxiety and stress. Yoga and meditation may also be helpful.

Your guide to empowerment and good health!

Free Hot Physical and Health Fitness Tips

The secret of a good and sound health is by taking proper care of the body systems and requirements, regular exercise and heeding to medical advice.

A good number of ailments on earth today are functions of man's consumption (What you eat) and carelessness. Using migraine as a case study; usually caused by stress, sleeplessness, lack of adequate flow of blood to the brain e.t.c. may lead to stroke if aura (Visual Disturbances) is added to migraine. Although, this according to research, is common among women who smoke and uses oral contraceptives.

As earlier stated above, our intakes play a vital role in our physical and health fitness status. You will agree with me that, it will be a suicidal mission for a diabetic patient to increase the consumption of sugary products, starchy roots and fruits when he or she is expected to do away from its consumption in totality.

In summary, the following measure should be considered appropriate if one desires a good physical and health fitness condition:

1. Maintain a clean and tidy environment always
2. Determine your body requirements and give such to it as appropriate.
3. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables - both are immunity against lots of ailments.
4. Try to know much about your body system e.g. when you need a rest, when to read and the appropriate time for all you do.
5. Try as much as possible to know your health status at intervals through regular medical check up.
6. When above 35 years of age, do endeavor to take your dinner on or before 7:00 pm.
7. Engage in light exercise on daily basis.

Rehabilitation and Treatment For Teenage Drug Abuse

If you enter a situation in which your child is guilty of just a minor drug-related or influenced crime, then the court can, at its discretion instead of sending your child to prison, may sentence the child to rehabilitation. Drugs and other substance abuse is hard on the body physically, because for a time, the body itself will suffer from withdrawal symptoms, and possibly a relapse into the drug habit.

Chemical imbalances in the body will be compensated for by the treatment so that the body will not suffer such a hard impact. In time, when the rehab program is completed, your child will have stopped his dependency on drugs and learned from his lesson, so that he or she will not do drugs again, because now the child is aware of the dangers of drug abuse and will know firsthand the negative effects of addiction.

Pros And Cons Of Different Treatments

Different approaches to different drug problems are the norm these days. There are some alternatives that just accept the addiction and instead focus on damage reduction, like the free sterile needles program to prevent aids. This is good at reducing societal cost of drug use, but doesn't fix the problem itself.

There is also the abstinence approach, which would involve cutting use of the substance entirely. This is often hard to do, because when the body suffers from withdrawal, then it will itself look for drugs and possibly the drug victim could suffer a relapse of the drug habit.

There are also other methods of treatment for drug abuse rehab, like medical treatment for the patient. This would focus on stopping or cutting off the dependency and addressing the damage already done to the victim's body. This is a long-term method of treatment, and because of the stigma associated with being known as a drug user, victims may be unwilling to try it.