On the right what you see is a pie chart showing the distribution of anxiety disorders in the United States. What it also reveals is that 18% of U.S. adults are living with some of kind of anxiety disorder. In addition, nearly half of those people also struggle with depression. In sum, anxiety and depression are very common problems. The good news is that counseling and psychotherapy have been proven as an effective means of treating both conditions.
Psychotherapy is effective, helps reduce the overall need for health services and produces long-term health improvements, according to a review of research studies conducted by the American Psychological Association. Science Daily
Counseling and psychotherapy are certainly not miracle cures, however, there have been hundreds of studies done that show that they are helpful. This holds especially true for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which is perhaps the most studied form of therapy. These positive findings do not simply apply to face to face therapy, either. In fact, a 2007 meta-analysis showed that online therapy has similar effects to traditional forms of therapy. To me that’s exciting news. If you would like to learn more about counseling I encourage you to visit the information link on the right.