Why Psychotherapy?

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Does that mean I have mental illness? 

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This is an area of great confusion. As a  Licensed Clinical Social Worker a person may have symptoms; such as Anxiety and Depression. However according to the Strengths Perspective the goal is not to find you a bright and shiny diagnosis that you can carry arround, and join a yahoo group about. The goal is to help you reduce the symptoms and at the same time see how many situations you are showing tremendous resiliency and strength despite your symptoms, history, or circumstances. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule but many people who come to therapy do so becuase their stress level has gone above their "window of tolerance." When this occurs people usually resort to maladaptive strategies to regulate their emotions by acting out, or acting in; in various ways. In addition many come to therapy because part of the problem is that they lack an abundant life vision or may not even feel PERMISSION to have such an outlook for the future.