Should I Be In Therapy?

Are you considering seeking a psychologist or therapist for individual counseling because things are not going the way you’d like in your life? Are you experiencing couples issues and would like to feel good in your couples relationship? Psychologist Dr. Gilbert Chalepas compiled some of the symptoms and behaviors indicating that Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) might be a smart choice. If you truly feel stuck and friends, family or other self-help type options have proven to be fruitless, perhaps that might be a good time to consider professional help. Dr. Chalepas has therapy offices conveniently located in Beverly Hills and Laguna Beach. He also offers a free initial consultation so you can experience how he works with his clients first hand. Take the first step and call his offices at +1 (310) 500 8442 to schedule an appointment.

Life is just too short to be unhappy.

Are your feelings frequently overly intense and disproportionate?

Let’s not kid ourselves, everyone gets up from the wrong side of the bed sometimes and is in a bad mood because something crappy happened, or gets angry, sad even tearful from time to time. These are the questions you need to ask yourself: Does what I am feeling seems out of proportion to the event? Does feeling angry, sad, tearful happen to me more frequently than it used to? Am I able to handle it as well as I used to or am I truly feeling overwhelmed or out of control? Is this behavior negatively affecting my personal and business relationships? Has what’s bothering me get to the point of impairing or changing my ability to function effectively and productively?

While experiencing these intense feelings you may also suffer from excessive worry in disproportion to what might have happened or is about to possibly happen. Cognitive distortions and catastrophizing are common in people that are in a heightened emotional state. This intense form of anxiety where everything becomes over the top and you feel ill-equipped to handle it can be very toxic and rob you of your ability to handle your affairs in a calm and effective way. With the help of an experienced clinician, psychotherapy can help you deal with those unpleasant and difficult feelings.

Too negative?

Three things are at work here, rumination (over-thinking), magnification (making it bigger than it actually is), and helplessness (you just can solve it – ever). An example might be that your boss reprimanded you today. While driving home you keep thinking about it, convinced that you will fired and your spouse will leave you and you’ll end up homeless without anywhere to turn much less be able to get another job.

If unchecked this type of self-destructive over-thinking and be very demoralizing toxic and lead to panic attacks and turn you into a person that avoids many things for fear of something negative happening. If your horizons are getting smaller and your sense of hope is evaporating, it’s time for psychotherapy with a competent clinician. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) will help you see what is standing in your way, that way you have a choice to change it.

Cannot let go and move on?

Whether you had a major loss of someone you really cared about, or a long-term couple’s relationship ended up not working out or getting fired can be a big blow to our ego and really shake our confidence and sense of stability. These issues my be a good reason to seek out professional psychotherapy as you may not want to overburden friends and family past what they are able to offer.

If you find that this loss has resulted in you withdrawing from your life, friends and activities you used to enjoy. Conversely, some respond to loss in a much more manic way by over-socializing, with friends and others around them, experience racing thoughts or may be unable to sleep for extended periods for several days without necessarily feeling tired.

Those are clear indications that it may be a good idea to speak to a professional psychotherapist or psychologist that can help you process your loss, the feelings that accompany that loss as well as provide you with tools to move towards healing.

Do you experience frequent, unexplained aches and pains in your neck, shoulders, head, stomach, or back? Is your immune system constantly running on almost empty?

It’s no secret that stress affects our bodies. When we feel upset or constantly stressed out and it’s repeatedly dealt in an ineffective manner, unhealthy stress can spread like fire through bodies and show up in many different ways. Emotional distress can show up in the form of a wide range of ailments, from headaches to chronically upset stomach, colds that don’t seem to go away or return all too frequently, even a lack of desire in being physically intimate with your mate.

Are you using food, drugs, alcohol or other self-destructive methods to cope?

Have your eating habits changed? Has your weight suffered the consequences? Are you trying to cope with stuffing down your feelings or ignoring to feed yourself as a punishment or feel that you don’t deserve to take care of your body? Are you currently using or thinking of using drugs more often than you used to? Are you combining using with drinking to amplify their effect?

Perhaps using uppers followed by downers to just feel “normal.” Drug cocktailing (using several drugs at once) taxes the heart as wells as the brain in extreme ways, upping the risk of being hospitalized, an unintended overdose or even death. Does being “cool” or popular seem more important to you than maintaining your health and wellbeing? Do you not want deal with something that is really bothering you which is hurting you?

These all could be indications that you are trying to numb yourself and avoiding facing the inevitable consequences. Psychotherapy can help you uncover the roadblocks that are standing in your way.

Is your work performance suffering?

When things take a turn for the worse emotionally, that is often reflected in work performance. You may now feel that your job is repetitive, uninteresting and just plain stupid busywork, even though you used to find it fulfilling in the past.

Your concentration, attention and memory may also be suffering due to your negative state of mind. As a result your work performance may be suffering as well as your reviews may be also reflecting this negative change. This might be a sign that you need to consider psychotherapy and speaking with a qualified professional.

Have you lost interest in things your previously enjoyed and looked forward to?

If things that you used to enjoy seem to have little meaning any more, it can be a sign that something is not quite right. If you’re constantly feeling tired, disillusioned, lack hope for the future and feel things are not going to change for the better, it may be time to begin therapy along with a complete physical exam by an experienced physician to determine what is causing your sadness and rule out any medical condition that may be the possible cause.

The psychotherapy process could help you regain some clarity or assist you in regrouping and shifting your goals and priorities in a more suitable direction.

Is your relationship as a couple suffering?

Is it hard for you to talk about how you really feel for fear of rejection or saying NO when you really need to? If you notice that you feel unhappy when interacting with certain friends and family on a regular basis, it might be a good idea to look into individual psychotherapy, couples or family therapy as a way to help empower yourself in making better choices as well as finding your voice and how to communicate things in a kind yet firm way so that others do not overstep their bounds or take advantage of your kindness or innocence.

Self-esteem and assertiveness are also communicated through body language as well as attitude in addition to the words you use.

Self-esteem plays a huge part in our lives, in our choices, careers, and how we choose to see ourselves as well as the world. Dr. Chalepas strongly believes that psychotherapy is a wonderful tool to strengthen your self-image and overall confidence.

Are your friends concerned?

At times friends and loved ones notice patterns, actions and choices that might be hard for us to see from our perspective. Or it might be that we are not willing to see because of the actions that we might have to take once we recognize a problem area.

If someone that cares about you mentions that you should seek help or asks if you’re feeling ok because they’re concerned, then it might be a good idea to look into it and take their advice.

Psychotherapy can be such a useful tool in our quest to increase our understanding, self-esteem, confidence, sense of balance and overall quality of life.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Gilbert Chalepas at his Beverly Hills or Laguna Beach locations for your free, confidential consultation by calling +1 (310) 500 8442.