Long gone, thankfully, are the stigmas attached to talking therapies and mental health difficulties and any reluctance to be medicated with anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drugs usually means that other types of support are needed.
The truth is that no one really knows why, or how, "just talking" works, but most people, especially counsellors and psychotherapists themselves will be testament that it works, usually having undergone some type of therapy themselves, and will swear by it. For many, it's why we do it.
Talking usually allows the surface stress to be relieved, when a non-judgemental space is created in which being listened to, validated and understood is offered. There is something about the way in which non-judgment facilitates the release of having to contain difficult emotional states, which can quite often be exacerbated when we try the usual patterns of talking to friends, family and work colleagues. Quite often, without intent, those closest to us want to offer advice, fix the problem and make it right. In some cases, others closest to us may want to dismiss the issue, ignore it, minimise it, or make us feel worse through alienation and rejection. Not only then do we have an issue, but now there maybe feelings of guilt, loneliness, abandonment and frustration to deal with too.
Talking about the issue, in non-judgemental space, with someone who may have been through their own mental health difficulties, allows the process of "getting to the bottom" of what the issue is. Each week, more and more can be uncovered allowing for you to process, in your own way, anything that arises for you Counselling and Psychotherapy isn't necessarily about feeling better, at least not initially, but about creating an awareness of how you think, feel, and behave which you may not be aware of, so that you can make the changes, if any, you want to make in your life.