My Journey Through Mental Health Education

In my previous entry (The Profound Experience #4) I shared with you the prompt from an instructor I have. This is the second entry that I decided to submit for more extra credit (don't judge, I love this subject). Unfortunately for him, this was definitely one that needed way more words. LOL, he is going to hate me (in a good way, I hope) when he gets to it.

Couples Therapy, Family Therapy, and Systemic Interventions for Adult Focused Problems: The Current Evidence Base

Carr, Alan

Journal of family therapy, 2019-11, Vol.41 (4), p.492-536

.... It presents evidence from meta‐analyses, systematic literature reviews and controlled trials for the effectiveness of couple therapy, family therapy, and systemic interventions for adults with a range or relationship and mental health problems…

A review, written by Rachel Ann Rascoe

03/14/21

Systemic Therapy! This is the first I am hearing of this but THIS, I agree with 100%. What this article is attempting to prove is that as an adult we go through phases that may require some mental health assistance. That if this assistance was offered to adults during these episodes, there would be less reason for physical medicine from a physician. Because these stressors of life WILL surface in one way or another. Be it through addiction to chemicals, abuse (physical and/or emotional), and actual body illness.

In this article, they are updating the proof of what they have found in 250,000 individuals in case studies. I believe that is a rather significant amount that SHOULD turn some heads and catch some eyes. But will it? I doubt it. Not if it means less money in the pockets of doctors and pharmaceutical companies. And that is what this article is basically saying. That IF people were offered this systemic therapy at times of crisis, they would (and HAVE) avoided dealing with the costs of individual care with meds.

Let’s take a look at some of these that I found quite interesting. It’s everyday situations that people try their best to navigate through. IF there wasn’t such a stigma around therapy/counseling, they could get some much-needed help to chart their course in a direction that would be equally beneficial. That IF Systemic Therapy was readily available for everyone in these situations, they would come out on the other end successful. And in their case study, 90% of them did. That is pretty damn good outcomes in my opinion.

I believe a common mental struggle in adult relationships is, Relationship Distress. This encompasses just about any serious struggle they may be having. So the way I see it is that the therapist provides a sort of educated mediation, that will guide them in such a direction that no one suffers emotionally. How much more perfect could that get? My question in all of it is how much will this cost? I’m sure everyone would be wondering that.

My next favorite in this bunch is Behavioral Couple Therapy. This pulls strategies from cognitive and integrative therapy also. And after reading who and what it’s for, I wish I knew this a long time ago, AND how do you get someone to agree to this? Because this is THE weakness in my own relationship. A total feeling of injustice on both sides of the fence just because we cannot communicate in a way that we both do not feel thwarted by the other. It’s not that we hate each other (although sometimes it leads to those words) but instead, it is frustrating because we just can’t understand what the other is saying. Not only do we not understand, but the words also are all wrong and come out as an attack on the other.

I know we cannot be the ONLY couple that goes through this. But it really would be much easier IF we could go and get this kind of help. That it wouldn’t be such an awful stigma to seek out the help, and that it is affordable. Because without affordability, it doesn’t help all that it could help. To me, that is an injustice to the people of this world. And as a medical professional, Do NO Harm, is supposed to ring true through every modality. Shouldn’t it?

So if the article adds to previous articles proving the efficacy of these practices, why haven’t we taken action (faster)? Because according to what is said here, these therapies have proof of success in successfully treating HUGE disorders of adult life. Huge disorders such as unhealthy emotional attachment (I know a few of those), an array of psychosexual disorders(premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, vaginismus(you psychologically and physically shut down the third muscle in the vagina so you can’t have sex. YIKES), and intimate partner violence. I know this is all about couples so how huge can it really be if it is not helping in individual situations?

It actually DOES treat a multitude of additional disorders outside of a couple. Anxiety-based, panic disorder with agoraphobia(fear of places that trigger panic), and obsessive-compulsive disorder but not ending there. The point is, and is clear in this article, Systemic Therapy HAS proven its efficacy in all of these situations and more. That it is important to recognize this and begin processes to help in this manner, immediately. And based on the results I read, I agree wholeheartedly and hope that it’s put into action. Sooner rather than later.