How important is your mental health? Do you treat it like you treat your teeth? Insurance companies state that we are to see the dentist twice a year for a deep cleaning. What about your annual check ups, Pap smears, breast augmentation, prostate cancer screenings, high blood pressure and etcetera? I often wonder why we don’t treat the psyche as such.

Where in the healthcare plan do we say, see a therapist once a quarter so you can check on you mental health. In case management we call it wellness checks. Or during your anal check up why isn’t there a therapist in the room with the nurse? We all know that the bedside manners of doctors and nurses are not the greatest and in turn the MCAT now has a psychological portion. Why do we have neurosurgeons who get paid the big bucks but therapist are not as important.

 If a doctor has a physician assistant and a nurse. Why isn’t a therapist to a psychologist to a psychiatrist viewed the same way?

 With suicide, school shootings, and drug overdose, depression and other mental health issues on the rise. Why aren’t we putting preventative health measures in order?

 I often have this debate on how many few psychotherapist. Why is the stigma that seeing a therapist means you have a mental health disorder. Which allowed the rise of life coaches. Psychotherapist jobs are not only to diagnosis mental health disorders. In some states we don’t even have that full authority without having the presence of a psychologist/psychiatrist to sign off. So where did this notion that psychotherapist only deal with the pathology, behavioral health needs and etc. Yes, those are psychological orientations but that’s just one methodology. We (psychotherapist) treat the whole psyche. Yes medical insurance companies have boxed a lot of us in and only cover for specific disorders, under your health insurance, to actually see a therapist but a true psychotherapist, is there to assist with any barriers. We are career counselors, school counselors, community advocates, we diagnose when need be but YOU DO NOT have to have a mental diagnoses to see a psychotherapist.

 The goal of a psychotherapist is to DO NO HARM and allow individuals to get out their own way. Barriers, challenged, behavior issues, distorted thinking, etc. These are just a few examples but Mental Health therapy encompass every aspect of your being. The brain is our most powerful muscle. Let me help you, be the best version of you!