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In therapy, you control the pace and topics; the therapist offers guidance, not commands.

Being raw and honest in sessions speeds up progress—there's no need to hide emotions or imperfections.

Growth requires discomfort and patience; change blooms when you leave your comfort zone.

Choosing to engage in therapy is a brave and vulnerable step. Stigma related to mental health issues is decreasing, and getting help has become easier for many individuals than in past generations for a multitude of reasons. However, the process can still be daunting for some.

Here are six tips, including a metaphor for easy visualization and a brief client case example for illustrative context.

The Therapist Has a Map, But You Decide the Roads You Will Travel

An anxious new client expressed interest in working on certain aspects of his self-care difficulties, such as his overuse of alcohol, but indicated he was not interested in addressing other domains, such as disordered eating patterns. While a therapist is interested in helping someone live their best life and has specialized training to address various concerns, the client ultimately remains in charge of the process. A therapist can point out significant intersections and suggest experiments with certain paths on the “map” of treatment, but clients choose whether, when, and how quickly things proceed. This client eventually agreed to work on other dysregulated self-care patterns but needed time to build more buy-in.

Therapy Tip: The therapist does not know every pathway or all the answers, but therapists know the significant landmarks and general recommended directions. There........

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