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Your Journey, Your Choice

Hello and Welcome Back to The Therapist Diaries, 

This week at my private practice, we've been busy planning for an Intensive ART service we'll be providing next week in London. This service will include 14-16 hours of therapy over a period of two days. At Voyager we offer these in office, in a retreat like setting, or in the client's own home if that's more comfortable for them. Intensive services of any kind are a lot, but for us, we specialize in Trauma Therapy, so two whole days is a huge commitment from the client. It's mentally and physically exhausting and takes a lot out of the client. So why do we offer it? The results speak for themselves. Research suggests that intensive therapy can achieve similar results in a short window of time, as up to a year of weekly sessions. Why? Because there's no progress lost between sessions. If you could help someone heal in 1-5 days compared to a year, wouldn't you want to give it a go? 

The success of intensive services doesn't negate the benefit of regular sessions or smaller services such as mindfulness and wellness activities. Weekly sessions can help clients remain focused and offers the opportunity for quick intervention if something is going off track, depending on provider availability, this isn't always so easily achieved with intensive services. Similarly, mindfulness and wellness activities such as wellness walks, guided journaling, yoga etc. serve clients by providing safe and structured environments for them to reground themselves and achieve a peace of mind. 

At Voyager Therapy we believe in holistic healing and that's why we offer intensive services and week-long wellness retreats, as well as your more typical regular counseling  and therapy sessions, and shorter (1-2 hours) wellness activities such as our Writing & Walking for Wellness Workshops. We want to ensure our clients not only have choices between the services and providers they receive but also that they have a continuous access to care regardless of the level of care needed. 

Mental health affects us all differently and we all build mental resilience in different ways too. Client A might be able to handle the big stuff but might not feel comfortable expressing their feelings about it whereas Client B might be 100% comfortable in who they are and have no confidence at all in handling life's big moments. We are not the same, and our care plans and treatment plans shouldn't be the same either. 

If you're already partnered with a provider, talk to them about what else you can be doing to create a more holistic care routine without taking on too much and feeling overwhelmed. If you're not with a provider yet, take some time to look over different services and what you might feel comfortable with trying first. "Therapy" doesn't always mean sitting in a room with a stranger and opening up the Pandora's box of dark and scary thoughts, sometimes it means grabbing a coffee and heading out in the park for a walk and talk session, or joining a local painting group with some wellness guiding thrown in there. Usually if you have a hobby or an interest, there's someone qualified to use that to help you find yourself again. So be brave, take the step to Google Search some providers near you and let's get you started on your path to mental wellness. 

 Until next time- be kind to your mind.

—The Therapist Diaries

 

For professional inquiries please visit Voyager Therapy

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