A Comprehensive Guide to Starting Therapy

Are you lost and confused? Unhappy? Not entirely sure what you’re feeling?  

Daily life stressors can make you feel that way. Yet, if these feelings last longer than a few weeks, it could indicate signs of mental health issues.  

The issues people commonly face include anxiety, depression, stress, lack of confidence, trauma-related disorders, negative thoughts and so on.  

There are several ways to manage these issues on your own. For example, building community support, developing healthy relationships, creating a self-care routine, journaling, or meditation can help manage your emotions.  

However, when these habits aren’t enough, therapy can provide a non-judgmental space to help regain control over yourself and your life.     

But if you’ve never been to mental health therapy before, the process may seem complicated.    

What if you don’t know what to say? What if your therapist doesn’t like you? Or what if you don’t like your therapist? There are too many questions.  

Fortunately, you can explore all of them during therapy. 

To help you get started, we’ve curated a therapy guide for beginners, from when you should start therapy to the termination process and everything in between. 

When Should I Start Therapy?

When to start therapy is one of the most asked questions. While there are several reasons to seek help, one word can sum up the purpose of it: change.  

You may need therapy if there’s something in your life you’re struggling to change on your own. 

• Do you want to change how you think or feel?
• Are you stuck engaging in habits that are not serving you?
• Do you feel like you’re stuck in a loop without understanding why or how to break out of it?  

If you answered yes to the above questions, give therapy a try.  

Think of therapy as a mirror where you can see yourself – with all your complexities – through the eyes of a trained professional. When looked at consistently, this mirror can help you break through your tunnel-vision perspective of who you are.  

Some of the common signs you need therapy include: 

• You feel on edge all the time, and it’s affecting your mood, relationships, work, and other areas of your life.
• You feel stuck and hopeless even when you’re constantly looking for ways to feel emotionally satisfied.  
• You can’t stop yourself from engaging in the same negative patterns that are causing you stress and anxiety (eg drinking too much when you can’t process your emotions, avoiding your loved ones etc).
• Signs of your mental health issues keep getting worse regardless of what you do to take care of yourself. 

People might tell you that you need therapy if they don’t understand the way you function or if you live unconventionally. But you may need therapy only if you want something about your life to be different.  

Do I Need Therapy if My Problems Aren’t ‘Big Enough’?

The short answer is yes!  

The long answer, however, has much to do with our perception of ‘big problems’. 

People often minimise their issues because they believe that their problems aren’t big enough. However, instead of focusing on the problem, we might need to shift our focus towards the impact the situation has on us.  

The reality is that there’s no such thing as a trauma threshold we must reach to deserve professional help.  

In fact, our brain can make us feel bad regardless of the severity of the situation. A small problem can affect you just as much as going through something deeply traumatic. 

Early intervention for mental health can give you the tools you need to recognise the signs of distress and cope with them.  

Your feelings and struggles are valid, regardless of how big or small you think they are.  

Moreover, therapy for minor issues can even prepare you to become self-reliant in the future.  

How Can Therapy Help Me?

Now that you know that seeking therapy in Malaysia before your problems blow up is a great way to become self-reliant, you may wonder how therapy works.  

Therapists may focus on two categories during sessions: presenting problems and personal growth.  

Personal growth is an ongoing process of working towards your ideal self/life and focusing on positive self-development.  

Presenting problems may include challenges that are affecting the quality of your daily life (ie disorders or mental health issues).  

In general, the benefits of therapy may include: 

• Gaining a deeper understanding of yourself, your goals, and your values
• Managing your emotions
• Identifying and reducing stress or work-related burnout
• Dealing with unhealthy coping mechanisms
• Exploring childhood and intergenerational trauma
• Learning how to be kind and compassionate to yourself
• Developing healthy and effective social and communication skills
• Overcoming people-pleasing tendencies 

Regardless of the reason, you may find that the benefits of therapy are endless. There is something for everyone to take away.  

Types of Therapy

Read on to learn about the five types of therapy and how they can help you.  

1. Individual Therapy

We provide individual therapy to help you explore your thoughts and feelings in a confidential environment.  

The key to success during therapy is to maintain a healthy relationship with your Therapist.  

Unlike other types of therapy, you are the only focus during individual therapy. Hence, you may have space and more time to understand and equip yourself with relevant coping strategies.  

Being in therapy can help you: 

• Improve your self-esteem and confidence
• Overcome existential crisis
• Manage low moods and depression
• Deal with feelings of shame and guilt
• Handle conflicts in relationships or friendships 

2. Couples Therapy

Do you believe that couples therapy is only for those who have problems? That’s not actually true! 

Couples therapy in Malaysia can act as a preventive intervention to keep a relationship on track before things get worse.  

Every couple may fight, but how do we prevent the arguments from slowly piling up, only to explode later in life? 

Couples therapists can act as a neutral party and help resolve the stack of problems so that they don’t collapse.  

Therapy can also help improve your interpersonal dynamics, making it a pleasant experience to share your life with your partner. 

As a couple, you may gain several therapy benefits, such as: 

• Solving communication problems
• Dealing with conflicts
• Improving trust among each other
• Learning how to mutually respect and support each other
• Improving intimacy
• Preparing for a healthy marriage through pre-marital counselling

3. Marriage Counselling

Marriage can be a beautiful journey, but it’s not always easy.  

Sometimes, it can be so challenging that you may become confused or lost about how to solve problems.  

You may lose your identity while trying to deal with marital issues such as family stress, unrealistic expectations, and poor communication.  

Most of these problems may occur due to a lack of understanding or emotional bonding. This is where marriage counselling in Malaysia can be helpful.  

If you’re seeking mental health therapy as a married couple, you can: 

• Rebuild trust
• Develop communication and listening skills
• Talk through difficult topics without leading to an argument
• Improve sex and emotional intimacy
• Reduce family and parental stress
• Learn how to manage personal, work, and family time
• Process feelings related to grief, health problems, or life changes
• Work through infidelity and rebuild your relationship

4. Family Therapy

Family members may have unique personalities, which may clash and cause conflict.  

Conflicts among family members can take a toll on everyone involved. However, family therapy can help with: 

• Evaluating and solving mental health issues
• Resolving harmful habits and thoughts
• Addressing and managing relationship issues and dynamics 

Unlike individual therapy, where the focus is only on one person, family therapists may focus on the set of relationships that make up the entire family.  

Moreover, family therapy can help: 

• Improve communication and interpersonal skills
• Resolve conflicts
• Provide personalised therapeutic plans to manage mental health issues that one or more family members may have
• Develop collaborative and individual coping strategies 

5. Child Therapy

Children may face the world with whatever information they are aware of (which, in general, could be limited due to their age and adaptability).  

Many kids may struggle with low self-esteem, lack of confidence, bullying, harassment, academic pressure, issues with parents, and so on.  

Child therapy in Malaysia can help address these challenges with age-appropriate therapeutic techniques.  

Some benefits of child therapy may include: 

• Learning how to love oneself
• Developing social skills
• Identifying and expressing emotions
• Fixing maladaptive behaviours (eg bullying others, binge eating)
• Coping with negative thoughts
• Learning how to make and maintain friendships
• Improving attention and concentration
• Healing from abuse, whether physical, sexual, or emotional

Tips to Find the Right Therapist

It’s easy to get the impression that all therapists are the same. However, just as you may prefer the approach of certain medical doctors over others, the same applies to therapy. 

Here’s how to find a therapist in five simple steps:  

• Identify Your Goals: Before doing anything else, think about why you need therapy. Are you stressed? Do you want to fix your relationship? Identifying your goals can make the therapist selection process easier.
• Review Therapist Profiles: Look for information such as qualifications, types of therapy, approach, and personal background.
• Choose Your Modality: Decide whether you prefer in-person or online therapy. Consider your comfort (eg can you open up in a new place?) and convenience (eg do you have privacy for video calls?) while deciding.
• Interview the Therapists: Ask questions about the therapist’s experience and approach to check if they align with your needs.
• Check Your Comfort Level: After a few sessions, check how comfortable you feel with the therapist. Comfort, trust, and mutual respect are essential for a successful therapeutic relationship. If you feel heard, respected, and empowered in the sessions, you’ve likely found a good match. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Booking a Session at TYHO

If you’re looking to start therapy with TYHO, follow these steps: 

STEP 1: Create an account with us to begin the TYHO Therapist selection process.  

STEP 2: Decide on a service (eg individual, couples, marriage, family, or child therapy) and use the filter to search by location, Therapist name, or issues.  

STEP 3: Review the relevant profiles that show up, watch the Therapist’s introductory videos, and read their descriptions and client reviews to shortlist your options.  

STEP 4: Click the ‘Book Now’ button to select the service, medium, and slot.  

STEP 5: Click on ‘Pay & Confirm’ to book your first session. You will find all your scheduled sessions and other details on your dashboard! 

What Type of Therapy Is Right for Me?

Choosing the right therapy method may be confusing if you don’t know what information to look for.  

Your therapy experience can increase significantly based on the right approach. Here’s an overview of the most common types of therapy: 

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Doing CBT helps us reframe our negative thoughts and emotions into healthier alternatives. Some sub-types of CBT are acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), and dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT).
• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT): During SFBT, a therapist may use tools such as miracle questions (ie reflecting on how different our lives would be without current problems) and goal setting to come up with practical solutions.
• Person-Centred Approach: Therapists may focus on the client e