Skill Building In Therapy

There are many different things that bring a person to therapy. Maybe their relationship is on the rocks, or they are consumed by panic and worry, or they just can’t seem to keep up with all of the things life is demanding of them. No matter what brings a person to therapy, they all have the commonality of wanting someone to listen to them, and to understand them. Sometimes when a person seeks therapy, especially those who may be coming to therapy for the first time, they may be surprised to find out that therapy isn’t just a place to talk while a blank-canvas therapist nods along intently. Others are eager to learn tools to overcome life’s obstacles and may struggle to slow down and allow the therapy process to take its course.

Whatever type of treatment you are pursuing, you will find that skill building in therapy will play an important role. Whether you want that to be your main focus or not, it is often an essential stepping stone on the path to recovery and healing.  Each individual comes to therapy with their own personality traits, life experiences, challenges, and strengths. Therapy is all about helping people to better understand themselves, their circumstances, and how to bring their strengths to the forefront in order to build upon them. While it may be hard for an individual struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, and so on, to see their own strengths, a skilled therapist will be able to help a client come to see them with more clarity. 

But why is skill building in therapy so important? In the early years of talk therapy, the primary focus of treatment was for patients to gain insight, often with very little feedback from the therapist. Even in pop culture, we can see therapy depicted as a patient lying on a couch, analyzing the depths of their subconscious. However, in practice, most therapy looks very different today.

Over time, the role of a therapist has shifted to being a much more active role, working in partnership with the client to meet agreed upon goals. Although gaining insight can be useful, skill building in therapy can help clients improve their ability to cope with emotions, communicate more effectively in relationships, or live in the present moment. Usually when folks come to therapy, the things that they are doing to cope just aren’t working for them anymore. Working with either an individual therapist, or participating in a skills therapy group, can equip you with the tools you need to more effectively handle the challenges life has thrown your way. A skills focused therapy can also be a more brief treatment for those who have financial or time barriers that would make long term, insight oriented treatment difficult.

The types of skills you learn in therapy will depend on why you are seeking therapy, the modalities that the therapist utilizes, and what aligns most with your own strengths and challenges. Want to learn a quick and simple skill that you can use whenever and wherever? Try this five senses grounding exercise to get an idea of the types of skills you might learn in therapy.

Take a moment to get into a comfortable position. Look around your surroundings and notice 5 things you can see. Next, notice 4 things you can touch. Now, notice 3 things you can hear. Then 2 things you can smell. Lastly, notice 1 thing you can taste.

Now that you’ve completed the exercise, what do you notice? Take a moment to reflect on any shifts that have occurred internally as a result of this exercise. Feel free to repeat the exercise as needed.

The purpose of this simple exercise is to ground a person into the present moment, by using the 5 senses to intentionally notice your surroundings. This skill can be particularly helpful at combatting rumination, often associated with anxiety. Do you want to learn more skills to effectively cope and see the change you’ve been wanting in your life? Give us a call at 919-791-5611 to sign up for one of our skills groups or to learn more about therapy options at Mind and Body Therapeutic Connections.