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So you have a problem and you're not sure where to turn; do you need professional counseling or would self-help resources be better?

Let's take a look at each of them.

PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING: is the one people are the most familiar with. You work with a trained professional to determine what your problem is and how to treat it. Your sessions may be one-on-one with the professional; you, the professional, and a group of people with the same type of problem (group therapy); or both.

This type of counseling takes time and money and your insurance may or may not cover all of the expenses. You must be willing to open up and expose your innermost thoughts to your counselor and/or group. You must also be willing to accept his/her decisions on your treatment. After all, they are the trained professional and they will be able to diagnose what is wrong; plus, they have the experience needed to treat you. If your problem needs stronger treatment; drugs or hospitalization; they can refer you to the proper people to make sure you get what you need.

SELF-HELP RESOURCES: first let's take a look at what they are. Self-help resources is a very broad category. It includes all of the following: books, magazines, tapes, videos, CDs, DVDs, on-line sites, self hypnosis, and self-help groups. (Wait a minute! Aren't groups part of professional counseling? Yes, they are. The difference is that self-help groups do not have a professional counselor leading them. Self-help groups use material about the problem they focus on and using that material, the members help and support each other.)

Self-help resources are for the do-it-yourselfer; the person who cannot open up to a professional or anyone else; the person whose insurance will not cover counseling or who cannot afford it; the person who is afraid word will get out that they are seeing a counselor; the person whose problem is not life-threatening; and who does not require medication.

To use self-help resources, you need to: be honest with yourself; be willing to do some digging to determine what your problem is; be willing to admit it, if you get in over your head or your problem worsens; and be willing to try new things.

So which is best for you? Only you can determine that. But, if your problem is relatively minor: insomnia, anger management, death of a loved one, obsessions, anxiety, weight management, gender issues, etc.; you might want to check out self-help resources first. These are all problems that many people experience everyday

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