Therapy v/s Therapeutic

Have you also heard/used statements like - “Driving is my therapy” “Shopping is my therapy”. When we use statements like this, it could be stemming from an underlying assumption as Therapy = Something which feels pleasant. But is therapy always pleasant? Is therapy as easy as going shopping?

Well! Each individual has a unique experience when it comes to therapy, but it's not always roses and rainbows. And definitely not an easy journey. Therapy is often referred to as a ‘safe space’, however it is also a ‘brave space’. It takes courage to ask for help, trusting a stranger with one’s vulnerabilities, fighting against the taboo of seeking ‘professional help’, investing hard-earned money, learning and unlearning, having the patience to experience self-improvement or growth and understanding oneself better.

In therapy, the client presents their concerns and the therapist and client both collaboratively set certain goals and work towards achieving them.

Running, Shopping, Music, Dance, and such activities are all THERAPEUTIC in nature. It makes us FEEL better for a short period of time. Whenever we are feeling low, we might try doing things that can help us deal with the issue temporarily. It could be through distracting ourselves, for example, cleaning your wardrobe after having a bad day at work. The underlying issue is not addressed. Whereas, Therapy is medium to GET better for a long term basis. Here, we try to figure out the triggers, impact, frequency of experiencing difficulty. For example, when you have a bad day at work, what triggered the low mood? How did it affect other areas of your life - relationships, food intake, productivity etc. How frequently do you experience these emotions? What helped you manage so far? Were they healthy and helpful behaviors? If not, what are the other alternatives? And the exploration can go on to understand the root cause and navigate the problem. It is much more complex than therapeutic activities.

Does this mean therapeutic activities don’t hold any value? NO. These are the activities that can be continued whether you have ongoing problems or not. Therapy combined with therapeutic activities would be a win-win. Therapeutic activities feel good because they release various neurotransmitters like- dopamine, endorphin, serotonin and oxytocin. There can be times when we might not be ready or have energy to work through our issues by opting for therapy. In those times, by relying on therapeutic activities, it can help us to manage for the time being. And whenever we feel ready we can start our journey of therapy. We need to be mindful that feeling good after therapeutic activity is short-lived and temporary. It won’t solve our main issues.

Therefore we should not use them as a medium to avoid facing our concerns. Otherwise it is easy to end up becoming dependent on those temporary feel-good feelings.

Terms like 'therapy' and 'therapeutic' are used interchangeably- but now we know the difference. Each of them have their own importance.

Disclaimer: This blog post is meant for awareness/entertainment purposes only. It is not medical advice and one must refrain from self-diagnosing. It is in no way a substitute for therapy with a mental health professional and it is not meant to be clinical. To consult with a psychotherapist on our team, you can contact us on fettle.counselling@gmail.com.