Nathalia Peralta D., Staff Writer

You might have heard “Why is therapy important?” more than once, whether that’s in the news or a 5-minute article. One cannot deny its importance to the quality of life and to keeping relationships close and healthy. Many aspects of therapy are there to help those in need– from one-on-one sessions to entire group sessions, there is a session out there ready to hear and help you. 

Therapy benefits both emotional and physical wellbeing, as well as providing various coping mechanisms. An example of why therapy is important is talk therapy. According to Healthline, “Talk therapy encourages open and honest dialogue about issues that cause distress. Through your relationship with your therapist, you’ll work to identify and understand how these stressors are impacting your life and develop strategies to manage the symptoms.” This is a good approach for people who find it easier to express their fears and concerns through their own words. It lets them take charge while also being guided into better and healthier coping habits. 

This ties into individual therapy where you are given a safe space to speak on all your stressors and solely focus on you. Many social skills can be improved with therapy such as communication skills, feelings of empowerment and healthier life choices that can help you develop more thoughtful insights on life. Not only that, but it can also build communities and long-lasting connections that can last for generations by building each other up. Talk therapy creates a safe environment for emotional expression, meditation promotes mindfulness and cognitive improvement and physical therapy restores movement and reduces pain. All together, therapy supports not only personal growth but also stronger relationships and healthier communities. Regardless of the method, therapy offers accessible and meaningful support that can lead to lasting, positive change in anyone’s life.

Meditation therapy is another wonderful use of therapy. Key benefits of the practice include mindfulness to support mental health. Closing your eyes and listening to your breathing can help keep in touch with what’s most important. Frequent meditation helps improve focus, emotional regulation and resilience to whatever challenges might come your way. Insights from PositivePsychology explain that the science-based practice is a “comprehensive exercise [that] will not only help you cultivate a sense of inner peace throughout your daily life, but will also give you the tools to enhance the mindfulness of your clients, students or employees.” The practice is open to everyone, and over a thousand people worldwide are trying it. Here are three benefits that came out of meditation: “The amygdala changes after two months of meditation training. Desbordes and colleagues (2012) found that there is less activation in this area after learning meditation.” This is interesting as the amygdala is responsible for our emotions, specifically fear, so seeing a decrease after meditation shows a healthy benefit. Number two, “Ramsburg and Youmans (2014) found that meditation improves the retention of information. In their experiments, college students received brief meditation training or rest. Then they listened to a lecture followed by a quiz. Students who received meditation training retained more information. Unaffected variables included mood, relaxation, and class interest.” Memory is important to a lot of people and with the use of meditation, not only can one train their brain to memorize, but they can also make it easier to retain everything that’s being learned more comfortably and efficiently. 

Lastly, aside from the mental benefits, therapy can also contribute to physical health. But what is physical therapy? Physical therapy is a type of rehabilitative care focusing on diagnosing, treating both chronic and acute injuries, as well as movement dysfunction. “More specifically, physical therapists are trained to work with people of all ages through the use of prescribed exercise, manual therapy, and patient education.” The practice does not discriminate on age and is open to helping those in need by giving them access to their mobility, as people rely heavily on moving and using their legs. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease, “Treatment of a more severe sports injury may require physical therapy for rehabilitation or fitting for a brace, cast, or splint. A physical therapist can design a plan to help rebuild the injured area’s range of motion and strength. This may include targeted exercises, massage therapy, aquatic therapy, ultrasound or cold and heat therapy to help strengthen muscles and joints and prevent further injury.” This contributes to the lowering of pain in joints and muscles, which also decreases mental distress. Other ways of releasing pain are therapeutic exercises, daily stretching, cold and heat therapy and many more. 

To conclude, therapy is not a closed box; it is a journey, and people will end up taking different paths and healing with the right community. Therapy plays a vital role in enhancing overall well-being, that being mentally, emotionally or physically. Whether through talk therapy, meditation or physical therapy, individuals are given the tools to better understand themselves, manage stressors and heal both the mind and body.