Psychotherapy in NYC was the subject of many shows, movies and particularly Woody Allen movies as well as many New Yorker cartoons. The reality is that many individuals living in New York City face high level of stress and struggle with physical, emotional and mental problems.

A Gallup poll that was performed on 2010, ranked New York City near the bottom on emotional health. The study measured level happiness, worry, anger, and stress and New York City was ranked 132 out of 162 cities. Therefore, it is not surprising that a disproportionate number of people in New York City engage in psychotherapy and counseling. New York City is full of mental healthcare therapists who want to look after your well-being. There are close to 5000 licensed psychologists practicing in New York City and many more other mental health professionals such: Social workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Mental Health Counselors, Psychoanalysts etc. Manhattan has the highest concentration for psychotherapy referrals per person.

Why do so many people living in New York City see psychotherapists? Many indicate that life in NYC simply is stressful. Due to the fast paced lifestyle in this big city, many people suffer from stress related problems which are manifested in different ways, physically, mentally and emotionally. Some would also say that in such complex city that is driven by fast pace life style, it is harder to form deep interpersonal connections. Lack of social connection and intimate relationship may result in increase of alienation, despair, depression, anxiety, anger and addiction. And, as we mentioned, it is easier to find a psychotherapist in New York City simply because there are so many available therapists around.

So, not only do more people seek therapy in New York City, but those who do may find it easier to talk about their issues. In New York therapy is more common, and people are less concerned with what others might think of them as compare to other smaller cities and rural USA, who still view psychotherapy with its negative stigma. Of course, many people choose therapy because they see it as a mean to improve skills and enhance growth, fulfillment and happiness. They consider psychotherapy as a form of self-enhancement rather than just a place to address problems or to resolve deep wounds.

Good health is an essential ingredient to a happy and enjoyable life. Even when your schedule is crazy with too much to do and your time to accomplish everything is limited, don’t let your well-being suffer. The next time you have some type of psychological condition that you want to address, you can easily contact spiral2grow, psychotherapists in NYC to help you.  spiral2grow, located in New York City offers quality of services of highly trained psychotherapists. After all, being healthy and taking care of your well-being is a necessity.

Good health is an essential ingredient to a happy and enjoyable life. Even when your schedule is crazy with too much to do and your time to accomplish everything is limited, don’t let your well-being suffer. The next time you have some type of psychological condition that you want to address, you can easily contact spiral2grow, psychotherapists in NYC to help you.  spiral2grow, located in New York City offers quality of services of highly trained psychotherapists. After all, being healthy and taking care of your well-being is a necessity.

Aristotle said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

There is a certain set of characteristics that every healthy person has in common. If you are able to understand what some of these traits of healthy people are, you too will be able to adopt these practices and finally achieve some of the success and happiness that you’ve always wanted.

The following is a partial list of habits of healthy, mature and successful people:

• High level of integrity
• Set vision, goals and priorities
• Look at life as a journey for growth
• Develop courage and act despite fear
• Focus on the solution rather than the problem
• Being proactive rather than reactive or a victim
• Focus on opportunities (to grow) rather than obstacles
• Develop organizational, planning and time management skills
• Work methodically, systemically, yet creatively (think out-of-the-box)
• Align themselves with people with positive character
• Make difficult decision and accept its consequences
• Are lifelong-learners
• Avoid procrastination
• Look at the big picture
• Focus on half glass full
• Practice what they preach
• Open minded and open to feedback
• Focus on being wise and not on being right
• Be assertive (not aggressive and not passive)
• Effective communicator and thoughtful listener
• Identify and follow their core values and believes
• Are adaptable, resilient, flexible while embracing change
• Focus on changing themselves rather than changing others
• Develop their emotional intelligence (IE) and Social Intelligence (SI)

By developing healthy habits that you practice continuously on a daily basis, you can increase your chances of living a long and vibrant life. That is why establishing an early foundation of healthy habits can last a lifetime and will lead you to a become a better person who has better life.

Leo Tolstoy starts the novel Anna Karenina with the line, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” There is a great deal of reality in that idea, which applies to healthy, mature individuals. Healthy people exhibit common habits, while the habits of unsuccessful people are all over the place.

Everyone who is successful and fulfilled in life, or who has done great things in their life, has developed proper habits. Developing habits means building the foundation of your character and destiny. Habits are created gradually, slowly while taking small step approach to rich high level of personal and interpersonal effectiveness.

Creating habits is not an easy thing, and require consistent and commitment to do the same things again and again. When you initially learn something the pathways or connections in your brain are weak. The more frequently you think a particular thought, have a particular attitude or act in a certain way the stronger the pathways become, forming an automatic habit of thinking, and doing. When habits are formed, they hold you in the right truck and serve you well.

The key thing to remember about healthy and successful people is that they understand that simply wanting to achieve success is not enough, you have to match this desire with drive, effort, constructive mindset as well as committed to develop healthy habits and practices that would leads you to success and fulfillment. So, take care of yourself by building healthy habits.

A healthy sense of self can make a profound difference in how we feel and function. Self-esteem is how we value and see ourselves. Positive self esteem is vital in development of a healthy personality. Healthy self-esteem means self-respect, a sense of self-worth, a feeling of basic goodness about oneself. On the other hand, low self-esteem means self-doubt and self-criticism, social anxiety, anger, shame, guilt loneliness and isolation.

Your potential to excel and achieve is directly related to your self esteem. On the other hand, failure is much more likely when you suffer from low self esteem. The following is a short list of why self esteem is important:

• Self esteem makes you believe in yourself. It affects your confidence which leads to success.
• Esteem affects your way thinking and behaving, causing your outlook, attitude and behavior to be destructive or constructive.
• It affects yourself image. When you have negative self image or low self esteem, it results in a loss of confidence. Your social skills may also suffer and you will find it harder to socialize. It might, also, lead to social anxiety.
• When you value yourself, others value you. In other words, you cannot expect others to value and respect you, unless you value and appreciate yourself.
• Self esteem brings with it assertiveness. Assertive individuals behave in a way that they respect themselves and value their needs. At the same time, they respect other without being judgmental with fairness, while having a constructive attitude.
• Self esteem people are able to express themselves and to communicate openly and honestly about their needs and desires.
• People with healthy self esteem choose healthy relationships and they recognize the value of relationships. They engage in healthy behavior while respecting others.
• People with positive self esteem tend to be more ambitious in what they want. They develop the courage to experience life to its fullest and by that allowing them to create life with durable fulfillment.

When you view life as a continual learning journey, you change your perspective from a short term view to a long term view. It allows you to focus on the benefits of the experiences, regardless of the mistakes you do. Mistakes are integral part of the learning process and as being a human. Mistakes are part of the menu of building self esteem and having a successful life. It is a requirement for engaging and fulfilling life rather than life full of avoidance and fear. Having a constructive view about mistakes, leads you to face challenging situation and bring courage into your life which from you can grow and be fulfilled.

You can avoid mistakes, complaint about mistake or you can learn from it. If you want to learn from your mistake, do the following. When you make a mistake, ask yourself: “What could I have done differently?” and “What have I learned from this mistake/experience?” Learn from the answer and remember the lesson. Ask yourself what you might have done differently. Could you have taken a different approach? Could you have planned better? What outcome might have occurred in that case? Remember, planning is essential – an old cliche but true “failing to plan, is planning to fail.” Learn from where you have gone wrong – nothing is a mistake if you can learn something from it.

Effective psychotherapy can help you reduce or eliminate psychological symptoms without medication. However, there are times that medication is important instrument to make you feel better and calm your brain, so psychotherapy treatment can work faster and more effectively.

Medication can make you start feeling better and faster than psychotherapy, but it is counseling that increases your ability to manage your symptoms in a constructive and healthy way. Psychotherapy is the treatment that helps you change your thoughts and behaviors, and provide you with the strategy to handle challenging situations without the side effect of need for medication. It teaches you the skills and tools necessary to create functioning and healthy life despite psychological challenges such as depression, anxiety, anger, trauma, self esteem etc. Accordingly, medication may treat the symptoms, but won’t solve the problem. However, psychotherapy may solve the deep rooted problem, or teach how to manage the problem effectively to create lifelong constructive change.

Yet, it is important to note that only a doctor can prescribe you with medication. Yet, it is important to understand the implication, consensus and side-effect of the medication taken.

The decision to see a therapist or a counselor is a very personal one, most often made during times of indecision, stress or emotional pain. The decision to seek help may also be the result of long standing issues or problems that may involve recurrent worries, frustrations, guilt, or self-defeating behaviors.
You may wish to consider seeking psychotherapy or counseling services if you or someone close to you is experiencing:

• Health problems, sleep problems, or medical symptoms that cannot be explained by a physician that might stem from a psychological problem or that worsened by a psychological problem.
• Relationship concerns with friends, family, spouse, partner, work etc
• Feel you are  stuck in any aspect of your life
• Job/Career/Employment – Find yourself unfulfilled with you job, career or want to find your right track
• You are just not happy, unfulfilled and want to feel better, but don’t quite know how to get there
• Depression, mood swings, anxiety or loneliness
• Excessive anger, frustration or guilt
• Stress, anxiety or constant worries
• Obsessive and compulsive thoughts and behaviors

• Problems with food, weight, alcohol or drug use
• Changes or potential changes in your life
• Problems following a traumatic event
• Marital, parenting or relationship problems
• Crisis that involves self-harming behavior, a risk of violence or the risk of suicide
• Self-esteem issues
• Depression or mood swings
• Persistent negative thoughts
• Problems with drugs or alcohol
• Loneliness, meaning, purpose, spiritual issues
• Improving communication, problem solving and conflict resolution skills
• Chronic or life threatening illness
• Life event concerns: marriage, divorce, parenthood, step-family issues, retirement, old age
• Issues of sexuality or sexual identity
• Managing traumatic events
• Struggling with the after-effects of childhood abuse/neglect
• Domestic violence or other forms of abuse

The decision to pick up the phone and ask for help is often difficult. Yet, whatever your reasons for seeking therapy, experienced therapists know this and can help put you at ease and answer your questions. They will listen to your concerns and help you decide upon the most appropriate course of action.