Two Paths in Therapy: Skills and Insight Broadly speaking, therapies tend to fall into two categories: those that focus on building skills and those that foster insight. Skills-based therapies assume that psychological problems arise from a lack of coping skills, and they attempt to remedy this by teaching skills. A CBT therapist might teach you to reframe the way you think about certain situations. A DBT therapist might introduce mindfulness practices or strategies for setting

Before Our First Session You’re beginning therapy because, in some way, you feel bad and want to feel better. Before our first session, I encourage you to consider what exactly “feeling bad” looks like and what “feeling better” would mean. Feeling Bad. What image or metaphor captures this feeling? Does it have a bodily sensation? How might it look to others? Feeling Better. What would feeling better involve? How would you spend your time differently?

If you’re considering therapy, I think there are three important questions to ask yourself. Question #1: Do you really need therapy? Not everyone does. And even those who benefit from therapy at some point in their life don’t usually need it indefinitely. If you’re generally content with life, and if your current resources feel sufficient for meeting your goals, then therapy may not add much.  Therapy might be worth considering if you’re struggling in an