Self help for panic attacks illustrates well the similarities and differences between traditional therapy and more modern self help methods. The proliferation of self help resources in recent years allows many people the opportunity to learn information previously available only in the office of a mental health professional. This has raised the question of whether or not therapy is even necessary. Why carry the expense of therapy when self help information is so readily available on the web and in bookstores?
To answer this question, it is necessary to clarify the respective roles of self help and psychotherapy. Good therapy should provides targeted knowledge and information, a process sometimes referred to as psycho-education. But the face-to-face aspects of therapy support the process of positive change in a way that can’t be obtained from a web page, video or a book.
Self help for panic attacks provides a good example of both the overlap and the uniqueness of self help and therapy, respectively. There are tools and techniques that can be extracted from information sources. Information and skills can be obtained using audio training and other types of media learning. But there are at least two important challenges that are difficult to meet without live therapy.
First, therapy can save weeks, months, or even years in the process of growth by harnessing the personality strengths of a person for his or her benefit. A good therapist is always listening and adjusting the direction of therapy based the personality strengths and needs of the client as well as the details of the situation. In contrast, a canned program self help for panic attacks uses the same approach for everyone.
Second, a good therapist will assess the causes of the panic attacks and tailor the treatment plan accordingly. If a man or a woman has an overactive thyroid, then the elimination of panic attacks may be quite simple. If the anxiety attacks are primarily due to past traumatic experiences, then the therapy takes an entirely different direction.
The relationship between past trauma and present anxiety attacks is often not recognized by the man or woman seeking treatment for panic attacks. Self help for panic attacks is hard-pressed to provide the kind of emotional intelligence to understand subconscious forces giving rise to recurring panic attacks.
Therapy, then, contains an interpersonal dimension that is difficult, if not impossible, to enjoy with self help programs. So then, we can now ask a different question. Is self help for panic attacks even worth the time, energy, and expense? It seems to me that it is. Here is why. The more that knowledge, skills, and tools can be acquired via self help for panic attacks, then the less these same basic tasks need to take up the time of therapy sessions. This has the benefit of freeing up more time in therapy for the conversations that cannot be obtained any other way. Or, the benefit might be that fewer sessions of therapy are needed, thus saving money for the client.
To better make a decision betwee therapy or self help for panic attacks or both, visit SelfHelp-forPanicAttacks.com.
