Symptoms vs. Source

Often someone comes to therapy because something has gone wrong in their life; a relationship isn’t working out as planned; repetitive patterns are impacting their mental wellbeing; or maybe the challenge of living through a global pandemic is taking its toll. Whatever the issue may be, many of us come to therapy wanting to get rid of our symptoms. We are tired of the suffering and want to find relief as soon as possible.

I remember my first experience in therapy. I was newly graduated from college and living independently. My world had changed rapidly and I began to recognize I was experiencing anxiety. If you are experiencing any kind of mental health symptoms, I know it can be incredibly challenging, and seeking relief is natural.

I went to my first counseling session thinking, I want to get rid of this feeling as quick as I can! However, over the course of therapy my focus began to shift. I began asking myself, do I focus on relieving my symptoms, or do I resolve my conflicts in order to relieve my symptoms? With the help of my therapist, I began to realize my anxiety had purpose; it wasn’t random. My focus became to work through the conflicts I had previously been unaware of, both from my past and present, that were sources of my anxiety. 

Several years later, I began my degree in counseling and started learning about different therapeutic models and approaches to healing. The question that started growing in my mind that year was, what if the symptom is not the problem, but rather the solution to a problem?

In my studies I discovered that this notion was central to many of the psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, and depth oriented approaches to therapy. Our inner psychic patterns and emotions, when unconscious, unexpressed, or blocked, find expression through our symptoms. In this sense, our symptoms are the solution because they release the psychological tension generated by the restricted emotion. 

If the therapeutic intervention is focused solely on symptom reduction, then the same conflict will manifest with a new set of symptoms. Therefore, symptoms are like a guide, pointing us back towards a deeper conflict in need of resolution.  

This was a revolutionary insight for me and is something that grounds my work now. If you decide to begin treatment with me you can expect this approach. My aim is not to immediately relieve your symptoms, but to explore the unconscious conflicts that are the source of your symptoms.