The experience of living with loneliness and / or social isolation can be more than frustrating – it can be dangerous to your physical well-being. Complications can include loss of appetite, overeating, insomnia, excessive sleeping, depression, and even thoughts of suicide. The good news is that working with a counselor for loneliness and / or social isolation can yield great results.
Start by looking for underlying causes
In some cases people are lonely due to depression or other medical issues. A counselor can assess you to determine if you need to treat an underlying medical situation first. If not, they will help you find the right way forward to heal from your loneliness.
A personalized approach is the best approach
There are plenty of “experts” out there offering advice on how to get over loneliness but the reality is that there isn’t one path that works for everyone. Instead, a coach works individually with clients to find the unique treatment plan that will work for them. A few of the most common ways to treat loneliness include:
Identifying inaccurate beliefs
The medical community agrees that sometimes when a person begins to feel lonely they start to see things differently. They can start to believe that they’re being rejected and that they’re not wanted. It can be challenging to let go of these feelings but if a client doesn’t do so then they may not be able to move away from their loneliness.
Direct support for a specific issue
In some cases, there’s a reason a person is lonely. They may be a recent widow or widower. They may have lost a child. Children often experience loneliness after their parent’s divorce. If there is a specific reason a person feels lonely then that situation should be addressed.
These are two ways loneliness may be treated but your counselor at Thriveworks Birmingham Counseling & Coaching can help you find the right path for your unique needs. There is help out there for you and you really don’t have to feel the way you do right now forever.
