How does therapy help with mental health?

I've been trying to understand this because I'm in therapy and I actually realize I don't fully understand how it can help me. It's like I know I'm not okay, but I don't know what therapy can do. I've researched online and tried to look for articles on this but found nothing so if anyone can help, thank you!

It depends on what kind of therapy you are engaging with.

For example, counselling might be helpful for giving you space to talk about your problems without feeling judged, as we often tend to do in our day-to-day lives outside of the therapy room. It can sometimes feel like a weight off your chest, or that your thoughts and feelings are valid, which can help you become more accepting of yourself.

If you are engaging with CBT, this might help you to challenge the way you think about things and learn more helpful thinking patterns as a way of reducing emotional and/or behavioural problems. CBT is a bit more active than counselling, in that it will involve you doing work between sessions, such as monitoring your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, or testing out your beliefs in some way.

There are many other types of therapy, so it would all come down to what the problem is, what your goals are, and what you are ready for and wanting to try.

It depends on what kind of therapy you are engaging with.

For example, counselling might be helpful for giving you space to talk about your problems without feeling judged, as we often tend to do in our day-to-day lives outside of the therapy room. It can sometimes feel like a weight off your chest, or that your thoughts and feelings are valid, which can help you become more accepting of yourself.

If you are engaging with CBT, this might help you to challenge the way you think about things and learn more helpful thinking patterns as a way of reducing emotional and/or behavioural problems. CBT is a bit more active than counselling, in that it will involve you doing work between sessions, such as monitoring your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, or testing out your beliefs in some way.

There are many other types of therapy, so it would all come down to what the problem is, what your goals are, and what you are ready for and wanting to try.

Ty so much for the reply.
What if you have a psychosis diagnosis and don't know exactly what therapy to engage with and how to deal with your problems in therapy? I hope I make sense

I'm fairly sure I need therapy support because my mental health is in real shambles but not sure if I know how to benefit from it

Getting a referral from your GP would likely be the first step. You would then be assessed by a therapist, who would offer advice about the type of therapy that might be helpful for you. As you go, your therapist should explain the process and help you to get the most out of therapy. Generally speaking, it would be most helpful to you if you engage fully with the therapy, including any between session work that you and your therapist decide on together. Be prepared for some discomfort, as therapy isn't always easy, but know that the work you do in therapy is based on scientific evidence from years of research. If you are not finding it helpful, feed this back to your therapist. We often have limited time with patients (e.g., up to 12 sessions in some services), so it is helpful for us to know if something isn't working for you, so we can do something about it. The general aim of any talking therapy is to reduce distress (and other problematic symptoms) and increase ability to cope if/when distress occurs. I suppose my suggestion would be to just give it a go and see whether you notice changes. I'd also say try to give it at least 4 sessions before deciding, as it can take a little while to get into it, and sometimes you might find you feel a little worse before you feel better.

How old are you? Are you under a team (be it CAMHS, Early Intervention Team/Service, or Community Mental Health Team)? If so, ask your care coordinator/mental health social worker or your psychiatrist about whether they can put you on a therapy waiting list within the team. You may have to fill out a form, and eventually you'll have an assessment with a clinical psychologist. From the assessment, they will decide whether therapy would benefit you, whether you're stable enough for it, and what type would benefit you if they were to offer therapy. It takes a lot of the decisions out of your hands, which might be helpful in your case?

Are you the person in the MHSS thread who was asking about this? If so did you see my reply to your post there? I have psychosis too fwiw