The goal of talk therapy is to allow women to understand their underlying issues, the concerns of mental health conditions they are currently facing and give them tools and strategies for changing their behaviors or dealing with painful experiences.
What are Women’s Issues?
Women’s issues are referred to as any concerns that women may experience at some point in their lives that impacts a woman’s mental health, and at times, physical health. Some of these issues may be specific to the female gender while others may impact all genders. Nevertheless, women may experience these concerns differently. Women’s issues can considerably affect the daily lives and overall well-being of women.
Women most often encounter issues that are specific to their gender, such as stereotyping, sexism, motherhood, infertility struggles, and woman-specific health problems. Several females struggle with gender roles and may feel pressured to balance family and career. These issues, and many others, are often able to be addressed in therapy with the assistance of a mental health professional. Therapists specializing in women’s issues will provide a supportive and safe environment to empower women so they can experience relief from emotional suffering, achieve fine balance, and improve their quality of life.
What are the Common Issues Pertaining to Women?
According to a robust body of research, women are more likely to develop a range of mental and physical health issues more than men and that are unique to women. Some of the most common includes:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Body image issues
- Discrimination
- Sexism or stereotyping
- Gender roles
- Sexual abuse/harassment
- Domestic violence
- Hormonal changes
- Motherhood
- Infertility
- Low self-esteem
- Self-harming behaviors
- Prescription drug abuse
- Postpartum depression
- Postpartum psychosis
- Posttraumatic stress
- Eating disorders
Treatment for Challenges Related to Women’s Issues
The following therapeutic modalities may be especially helpful for challenges related to women’s issues:
- Cognitive-Behavior Therapy: This is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that helps women to recognize and change disturbing or destructive thought patterns that have a negative influence on their behavior and emotions. It also assists women to improve their coping skills in relation to their gender-specific challenges.
- Existential Therapy: This is a type of psychotherapy that tries to assist women with finding meaning and purpose in their lives. A therapist actively motivates women to utilize their skills to make choices and to develop their lives as a method to maximize their existence or their reason for being.
- Narrative Therapy: This is a form of psychotherapy that aims to separate a woman from her problem, enabling the woman to externalize her issues rather than internalize them. It relies on a woman’s own ability and sense of purpose to guide her through tough times.
- Mindfulness Practices: This is a type of therapy involving meditation in which you are trained to focus on being aware of what you are feeling and sensing at the moment, without judgment or interpretation. Mindful practices involve guided imagery, breathing techniques, and other practices to calm the mind and body and help reduce stress.
- Interpersonal Therapy: This is a short-term, focused, evidence-based therapy to treat mood disorders, such as depression. The main objective of interpersonal therapy is to improve the quality of a woman’s social functioning and interpersonal relationships to help reduce distress and manage difficult life transitions.
- Talk therapy: This is a type of psychological treatment for mental and emotional problems commonly associated with women such as stress, anxiety, and depression. In talk therapy, your mental health professional will forge a path forward to effectively manage and resolve your mental health issues that are interfering with your daily activities.
- Group Therapy: Group therapy is a psychological therapy that involves one or more trained psychologists (therapists) working with several women at the same time. The women in the group usually have similar concerns and meet regularly to interact with each other and work on their issues together through their therapist’s guidance.
- Family Therapy/Couple Therapy: Family therapy/couple therapy is another type of psychotherapy in which your therapist works with families and couples in intimate relationships to foster change and development in women going through gender-specific issues.