What Is a Chronic Illness?

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Find a therapist to help with chronic illness

Therapy often aims to minimize symptoms, but chronic illness symptoms may not go away.

Therapeutic safety requires believing clients with chronic illness about their experiences in their bodies.

Acceptance of chronic conditions isn't giving up but a way to move forward that's based in reality.

The aim of therapy is often to minimize and reduce—minimize symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, and other forms of psychological distress, and reduce the impact of harmful behaviors, the recurrence of old relationship patterns, or the grip of unhelpful thoughts. The National Institute of Mental Health describes the goal of therapy as gaining relief from symptoms, maintaining or enhancing daily functioning, and improving quality of life (NIMH, 2024).

We need that energy in the therapy room, especially when clients have been struggling with their mental health in ways that affect their daily functioning.

However, the symptoms of clients with chronic illness and chronic pain may never go away. Their symptoms are, well, chronic. When the emphasis of therapy leans too heavily on symptom reduction, it can induce shame, self-blame, disappointment, and hopelessness—the very feelings keeping people with chronic illness emotionally stuck and struggling.

People with chronic illness need a different type of support in therapy. They need to be believed in their suffering. They need acceptance. They need joy. They need self-trust. They need reassurance. They need to know they’re doing enough and that they’re not to blame for their illness.

The goal of therapy then becomes not to gain relief from symptoms or even to enhance daily functioning, but to improve quality of life even if symptoms never change.

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