How Therapists Stop Worrying About Their Health (So You Can Too)

We like to think of therapists as people who have essentially sorted out their lives.

But when you ask them how they feel about their health, that’s not always the case. Many of them still have to implement strategies to reduce risk and worry, and simply get on with their lives.

So what do therapists do, so that you can, too?

Check The Small Print

One of the first things they do to reduce worry is to check the small print of their health insurance. They go through all the documentation so they know the coverage they’re getting.

The fine print is really important because it details what’s allowed on the policies, and what’s not. A lot of people get into trouble when they think they have coverage for something when they don’t. That’s why it is worth understanding the policy document in full and exploring it with your insurer.

Set Boundaries

Another thing that therapists are good at doing is setting boundaries. They know that life is tough enough by itself and that they need to prevent other people from disturbing their peace.

This boundary-setting can be quite hard to do in some life situations. You may have people around you who won’t respect your limits or need for space. However, enforcing this is essential if you want to maintain your mental health over time. For example, you might have a rule where you don’t do any work after 6 pm to preserve your peace.

Automate Health Monitoring

You also want to automate health monitoring where you can. Using wearable technologies and then recording information on an external app is a great way to move forward.

The nice thing about this technology is that it lets you track multiple metrics like steps and heart rate. It also allows you to track things like sleep.

Therapists like this because it alerts them when they need to pay attention to something. You can essentially do the same.

Practice Reframing

You’ll also notice that therapists are good at something called cognitive reframing. The idea is to change the way they think about health to make it more manageable.

For example, therapists understand the impact when people have negative self-talk. A lot of people will claim that they are “doomed” or they can’t make it, even when they can.

You want to avoid this sort of talk whenever possible. If you can focus on the upside, that actually gives you the highest chance of seeing health issues through and getting out the other side.

Delegate Non-Essentials

Lastly, therapists are good when it comes to delegation non-essentials. They know that they can reduce stress by passing jobs onto other people and avoiding doing them themselves.

You can do something similar to protect your mental health. Waking up in the morning knowing you have a wall of work waiting for you isn’t a lot of fun. That’s why it’s so critical to get other people to carry out tasks for you where possible, allowing them to play to their strengths.