Is Therapy for Postpartum Depression A Crutch?

I agree that psychotherapy is not a crutch. In fact, Iam going to be a bit controversial by saying that everyone needs a bit of counseling to some extent in order to develop their emotional intelligence and resilience in order to prevent future problems. In Australia, Iam witnessing a very small movement towards building resilience through CBT principles in school age children, and I hope that this will become more prominent in our school policy in the future.
Here is an article that I wrote recently in my blog on this topic. Hope it this will bring a different perspective to “counseling” or “psychotherapy”.
When I ask my patients what does the word “counseling” mean for them, these are some of their replies.
To help me solve problems
To help me learn about myself
To listen to me and support me
To teach me on how to solve problems
Sitting on a couch and talk about myself and my problems
Well, this is my take on what counseling is all about.
Counseling for me is in essence, about teaching people how to regulate their mind and their emotions. Most people are not even aware that they cannot regulate their mind, so in essence, their mind is controlling them. Think about it in this way.
Think of a time when you react to something, and you do not wish to react like that anymore. Were you able to stop that? Were you able to prevent that next time? If you can’t, then your mind is controlling you to some extent.
So, the counseling process including CBT and ACT, is to help people understand their mind, its conditioning, why does it react the way it does, how to “recondition” the mind, and just as importantly, how to help the mind to accept the things that you cannot change. In essence, counseling helps you to become more “emotionally intelligent” and how to regulate your mind better. Hence, I believe that everyone needs this in order to live more fulfilling lives.
This process takes self awareness, knowledge, application of knowledge, repetition, repetition, and more repetition until it becomes habit.
Dr Vin
Family Doctor from Australia
http://www.doyouhavedepression.blogspot.com

Of course not! It’s been determined the most effective treatment for postpartum depression. A solid, competent therapist will not allow you to use therapy as a crutch no more than a competent physician or nurse practitioner will allow you to use medication as a crutch. In fact, your physician or ARNP should be recommending psychotherapy first or at least along with any prescription for anxiety or depressive symptoms