Top 6 Reasons Why Corporate Women Avoid Therapy

TOP 6 REASONS WHY CORPORATE WOMEN AVOID THERAPY

After years of working with professional women, and more specifically women in corporate, I realized that I’m usually their last resort.

Actually, most of the time, I’m told that I was their last resort.

It’s not surprising.

Even with the increasingly amount of conversations being had about mental health, emotional wellness, and trauma-informed care, there’s still a lot of stigma around therapy.

And besides stigma, many people just don’t see the value in it.

Corporate women experience a lot of stress at their jobs and the higher up they are, the more stress they have. It doesn’t always mean that they don’t like their job, (even though many of them don’t) ,but the high demands make it difficult for them to prioritize self-care or to find time for therapeutic support.

Many corporate jobs offer perks that include therapy services but many times, employees don’t want to talk to an EAP therapist because it feels too close for comfort and they worry about their privacy. This leads them to have to reach out to a therapist on their own, which is how many of my clients begin their therapy journey with me.

Over time, I have found that these are some of the top reasons why corporate women avoid therapy or only consider it as a last resort.

If this is you, read on to see if any of these resonate:

1. You consider therapy to be a waste of time because you’re thinking of old school approaches where you just vent about your feelings and minimal progress happens.

2. Even though you want to, you struggle with prioritizing yourself and your wellbeing. You are so used to putting your needs before everyone else, that the idea of taking the time for your mental health and wellness seems daunting and pointless to you.

3. You’re really smart and then some. You are driven, ambitious, extremely dedicated to your professional career, value productivity, and are mostly led by logic. You understand mental health and why other people might go to therapy but you don’t think focusing on your emotions is a productive use of your time.

4. You’re avoiding doing the work that deep down you know you need to be doing because you fear that it will disrupt your lifestyle. Maybe you’re well aware of some things you could work on in therapy or you are finally piecing together how your overwhelming childhood is still impacting you today and you want to talk to someone about it. You might be scared, nervous about what it will be like to talk about these things, or even how your life may change after you work with a therapist.

5. You think a luxury vacation will give you a good enough reset. Or a good spa day. Or a rooftop premium brunch with friends. Or something material that will make you feel fabulous again. All of these things can certainly help you feel better, but they probably won’t be long-lasting.

6. And the absolute most common one is that you don’t have time. Now, although I know you’re busy and that your work and home life demands a lot of your time, what this one really means to me is that you don’t think therapy is a valuable use of your time. I’m almost positive that if your romantic partner or a child of yours was diagnosed with an urgent health issue and needed to see a specialist weekly and needed to be accompanied by you, that you would find the time.·      
   

   Do any or all of these resonate to you? Are you struggling with anxiety or with coping with the aftermath of an overwhelming or traumatic experience?

   If you’re ready to move past these reasons and start your work with a therapist and want someone who’s skilled and experienced working with professional women, and also trauma-informed, let’s schedule a consultation to see if we’re a good fit for each other.

Dr. Minerva Guerrero is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Westchester, New York. She is the owner of Mind Matters Mental Health Counseling, offering telehealth and in person therapy sessions. She specializes in treating anxiety and trauma in adults. For more information about her, make sure to visit her website www.mindmattersmhc.com or follow her on Instagram: mindmattersmhc.

Learn about the benefits of an EMDR Intensive vs. EMDR weekly therapy.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy can be conducted either intensively (longer hours in one session) or weekly (one session per week). The benefits of an EMDR intensive includes:

1. Faster progress: An intensive approach allows for more sessions in a shorter period of time, which can lead to a faster resolution of trauma symptoms. One intensive session is the equivalent of months of therapy.

2. Intense treatment (hence “intensive” : You’re not spending time focusing on anything outside of the already agreed upon treatment goals so your EMDR intensive allows for a deeper processing of traumatic memories.

3. Increased accountability: An intensive approach can increase the accountability of both the therapist and the client, helping to ensure that the client makes progress towards their therapeutic goals.

4. Focused processing: This is ideal for clients who have one or two specific problems they are clear they want to work on. 

On the other hand, the benefits of weekly therapy may include:

1. Gradual progress: The slower pace of weekly therapy can be helpful for some individuals as it allows for a gradual processing of traumatic memories.

2. Better integration: Weekly therapy allows for time between sessions for the individual to integrate and process the work done in therapy. You can still do this with an intensive but you will have to coordinate with your therapist how to go about the follow-up.

3. Reduced intensity: The slower pace of weekly therapy can reduce the intensity of therapy, making it a good option for individuals who may not be able to tolerate an intensive approach.

4. More flexibility: Weekly sessions are better for clients that want more flexibility on what they discuss in session. They may have some awareness on what their struggles are and they want to be able to flow through all of them in therapy.

Ultimately, the choice between an intensive or weekly approach will depend on the client’s specific needs, therapeutic goals, and personal preferences. Some people prefer to work intensively. They’re the ones that would prefer an accelerated Master’s program vs a traditional 2 year program or binge watch an entire Netflix show on a lazy Sunday versus watching one episode per week (I don’t actually know those people even exist but maybe they do!). Either way, definitely consult with your therapist and see if they’re offering intensives and if they think you’d be a good fit and discuss your options.

Are you based in New York and want to schedule an EMDR Intensive for yourself? I provide EMDR intensives for other therapists and small business owners. Check out my EMDR Intensive page here.

Dr. Minerva Guerrero is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Westchester, New York. She is the owner of Mind Matters Mental Health Counseling, offering telehealth services and in person EMDR Intensives. She specializes in treating anxiety and trauma in adults. For more information about her, make sure to visit her website www.mindmattersmhc.com or follow her on Instagram: mindmattersmhc.

Three things to expect from an EMDR Intensive

EMDR intensives have become a new favorite for clients and therapists alike. If you’re thinking of scheduling your own intensive (you should!), these are 3 things you can definitely expect.

1. You will be surprised at how much work you did in only one intensive session.   

How amazing is it to have done so much healing work that normally can take months to do? Most clients are mind blown at the progress that they’ve made with only one intensive and are really excited, grateful, and energetic after, which is so fulfilling to witness as an EMDR therapist. However, it is normal to feel tired for at least a few days after your EMDR intensive. This may catch some folks by surprise because of the initial increased energy they feel but imagine completing a marathon in a few hours, you need to rest and recover. I highly suggest carving out time to decompress in your schedule for the first few days following your intensive.

2. There will be breaks to help you integrate the work you’re doing.

The amount of lengths of breaks of an EMDR intensive will vary depending on the format of your session which varies by providers but I do a definite one hour break for a meal or to walk around and stretch. There can be other breaks as needed but usually not for more than 10-15 minutes. So don’t think because it’s an intensive, that you can’t ask for one as you need.

3. Your pre-consultation is to best prepare you for the real deal.

Your EMDR therapist will most likely be meeting with you before your actual intensive in order to get to know you and what your goals are for the intensive, complete a comprehensive treatment plan, and prepare you with personalized resources to ensure that your intensive session is a success.

Keep in mind that EMDR is a highly individualized therapy, and the specifics of what you can expect during an intensive session will depend on your specific needs and goals. This will also depend on your provider and how they format their intensive EMDR sessions.

Are you based in New York and want to schedule an EMDR Intensive for yourself? I provide EMDR intensives for other therapists and small business owners. Check out my EMDR Intensive page here.

Dr. Minerva Guerrero is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Westchester, New York. She is the owner of Mind Matters Mental Health Counseling, offering telehealth services and in person EMDR Intensives. She specializes in treating anxiety and trauma in adults. For more information about her, make sure to visit her website www.mindmattersmhc.com or follow her on Instagram: mindmattersmhc.

Why Is Good Therapy So Expensive? And Why Don't A Lot of Therapists take Insurance?

The mental health field is about helping others, healing from trauma, learning from unhealthy patterns and moving towards peace, wellness, fulfillment, calm, amongst so many other things. AND it’s about MONEY. Yes. MONEY. And I’m talking about A LOT OF MONEY.

The average therapist spends thousands of dollars- well in the double-digits- just to get basic level clinical training in their Master’s program. If they also happen to get a PhD, we are now talking about anywhere close to a six-figure investment in total, depending on where they went to school. Now you can add all of the trainings, workshops, certifications, supervisions, and consultations, and the investment to enhance their clinical skills and be the BEST therapist for their clients skyrockets. Therapists also have their own therapists to make sure that they dealing with their own “stuff” so that they are not bringing it into their professional work. If your therapist owns their own therapy business, they also need to be able to cover their business costs as well.

So you get where I’m going with this? The therapists that most clients want to work with because of their specialties, all the fancy letters after their names, the testimonials given by former clients, ARE expensive and rightfully so.

Now, you might be saying that you totally get that they’re expensive but that’s not the problem. The problem for you is that so many therapists are not in network with insurance companies. You are RIGHT. The reason for that is not because the therapist doesn’t want to. As a therapist, I can confidently speak for the majority of us in the profession and say that we wish therapy was more accessible to everyone, even for ourselves, BUT insurance companies make it impossible for it to be that way. Although, there has been some minimal progress, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately, mental health wellness is not one of the most coveted values in our society and the reimbursement rate for clinical professionals is ridiculously low. Below, I summarize the top 3 reasons why I’m not in network with insurance companies.

Reason #1 Why I’m Not In Network: You Have to Be Given A Diagnosis

In order for your insurance to cover your therapy sessions, you must be given a diagnosis. Even if it’s not appropriate, there has to be a diagnosis. For example, if you are in therapy because you need support in coping with your recent break-up, you will have to be diagnosed with Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, or Adjustment Disorder at the very least. If you’ve read my about me section in my website, you already know that I am not in favor of labeling life challenges as a mental illness.

Reason #2 Why I’m Not In Network: It’s Not Completely Confidential

If you or your child eventually needs a federal background check, wants to go to the army, or a variety of other reasons, a diagnosis can be disclosed through your insurance company. It’s important to me that my clients feel safe to open up to me knowing that what’s said to me will stay between us.

Reason #3 Why I’m Not In Network: Insurance companies will then decide your treatment

Insurance companies determine the number of sessions and the frequency. Sometimes you may benefit from longer sessions, or twice a week, or maybe just once a month. This is a decision I feel most comfortable making in collaboration with my client, not one that I want dictated by an outside source.

Despite these reasons, I’m very aware that some people want to use some type of insurance benefit to help with the cost of therapy. Therefore, many therapists, including myself work with insurance companies as an out-of-network provider.

Dr. Minerva Guerrero is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Westchester, New York. She is the owner of Mind Matters Mental Health Counseling, offering telehealth services for all of New York State. She specializes in treating anxiety and trauma in adults. For more information about her, make sure to visit her website www.mindmattersmhc.com or follow her on Instagram: mindmattersmhc.