By Micky Lavin Pell

Just as physical exercise has been shown to have many benefits for disease prevention and overall health, so too does psychotherapy play a role in preventing a variety of mental illnesses and maintaining mental health.

 While psychotherapy has largely been used in treating and healing emotional wounds, therapists are now suggesting that there is greater potential for also using therapy to help people create better careers, marriages, families and generally creating happier and more fulfilling lives. Incorporating therapy into our lives while things are going well may not only stave off anxiety, depression and other forms of mental illness, it may also enrich our lives to such an extent that we flourish in ways we may never have imagined.

What I would like to suggest is that we as a society consider turning to psychotherapy in order to not only prevent mental illness but also in order to thrive individually and to create a better society.

Therapy is actually even more effective for people who are reasonably healthy, and capable of thinking. It is less efficient when people are overwhelmed that it is difficult for ideas to penetrate their minds.

Therapy offers people tools for how to live creatively and create meaningful, successful lives. Many of us make choices based on what is familiar rather than giving ourselves the space to consider a variety of options that may be better. By allowing ourselves the space to think things through from the outset, and with the help of an objective observer, we are creating an opening for additional positive choices that may yield more successful outcomes. After all, the more aware a person is before making significant decisions (such as where to live, what career to pursue and whom to marry), the better those decisions will be, and the happier they will be as a result.

People who make decisions as a reaction to something, rather than as a result of thinking the decision through, usually end up unhappy with their decision. Knee jerk reactions are often regretted, as words may be said in the heat of the moment that lead to hurt and pain and even financial loss.  Similarly, while most things in life can theoretically be fixed, oftentimes doing something without sufficient thought can result in decisions that bring a person down so low that they become almost paralyzed at the thought of making another decision.

 As a therapist I have heard countless stories of missed opportunities, or things said or done poorly as a result of insufficient thought.  Had those same individuals been capable of clearer thinking at the outset, years of ensuing pain could have been prevented.

People who spend a significant amount of time making a choice feel more invested in that choice and generally feel happier about it.  Even if a person decides not to carry on with a decision that they have put a lot of thought into, they feel better about their final decision because they feel that at least it was thought through to the best of their ability. That person can then go on and more easily use the result of that thinking exercise in other areas of their life.

 If psychotherapy can be helpful with things after they occur, how much more successful it could be in helping people deal with difficulties as they arise. The greater the capacity we have for thinking clearly, the better we can make decisions or even prevent potential difficulties. An uncluttered mind helps us make sense of our experience in ways that can enrich our lives for years to come.

“Psychology is not just the study of disease, weakness, and damage; it also is the study of strength and virtue. Treatment is not just fixing what is wrong; it also is building what is right. Psychology is not just about illness or health; it is about work, education, insight, love, growth, and play.” (Seligman, M. &Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000) Positive psychology: An Introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5-14.)

Micki Lavin-Pell, MS, MA, is a Marriage and Family Therapist who works with individuals struggling to create relationships leading to marriage, and with couples at the early stages of marriage and engagement. She works with clients in her office in Jerusalem and worldwide via Skype. You can visit her website at www.relationship-renovation.com.