Before being a psychotherapist, Nicole was a Registered Nurse working in hospitals and medical centers granting her vast experience and knowledge in the medical field.
Whether your diagnosis is new or you’ve been living with a chronic condition for years, daily symptoms have probably made life uncomfortable. You may be having a hard time adapting to your body’s changes or coping with feelings of loss. And between physical symptoms and invasive treatments, you could lack the energy you need just to get through the day.
Common mental health struggles are likely to co-occur with a new or chronic medical diagnosis. Maybe you’ve noticed symptoms of depression, anxiety, and grief—including prolonged sadness and intense worry—appear alongside your illness. Not to mention, the trauma that your brain and body have endured has probably caused you to feel out of control.
When both your mental and physical health are compromised, it’s easy to fall into patterns of self-doubt and negative self-talk. Consumed by thoughts and fears about your condition, you may have difficulty concentrating or staying present in your relationships. As a result, you may feel lonely or disconnected from others.
Physicians and therapists are developing a deeper understanding of just how interrelated physical wellness or illness is with emotional fitness. It is an experience that patients live with. However, it is often under-addressed because of the limitations of a physician’s scope of engagement with their patients and the challenges of collaboration between doctors and mental health providers, which is necessary to fully integrate the physical and emotional aspects of life.
Individuals with health challenges–whether chronic or acute–bring particular needs to therapy. Choosing a therapist with experience navigating those issues, who understands the ways those health issues interface with your emotional life is critical.
While the overlap between medical and emotional issues is vast, I bring a particular focus to pain, trauma, treatment compliance, helping resolve grief that may be contributing to a health challenge, understanding and addressing psychosocial issues that affect quality of life, helping individuals accept a diagnosis of chronic illness of themselves or a family member, engaging family members and other caregivers, and psychological or emotional challenges that may compound recovery or obscure the proper diagnosis of a medical condition.
The effects of a chronic medical illness can be isolating and often debilitating. Between physical discomfort, sleep disturbances, and cognitive symptoms, you probably feel drained by the day with little to no energy left for your work, hobbies, and relationships. Additionally, there may be some people in your life who doubt or minimize your experience. Especially if you’ve had a long-term, chronic condition, you might feel like those around you no longer recognize or have forgotten your diagnosis. And though you don’t want pity or special attention, you can’t help but feel that you got dealt an unlucky hand.
Chronic medical illness has taken away your sense of normalcy, but it’s possible to find relief from the emotional and mental pain holding you back.