Self-Therapy Journey Review

Self Therapy

In broad terms, self therapy refers to therapeutically working on one’s own personal issues without the intervention of a therapist. We all have a tendency to consider our interpersonal interactions, how we might appear to others, how we are affected by experiences. This all involves our own reflection and consideration of what’s going on for us. When we want to look further into this, find out more about ourselves, this is call self help. Self therapy looks at how we might work through our own stuff without the intervention of a professional. Here I review the self therapy journey program and if it has the ability to help one work on their own issues.

Program Overview

An interactive online tool that helps one to work through personal issues that may have developed at some point in your life that now has an impact on your life in some way. It also allows for developing a certain healthy capacity resulting in personal growth and emotional transformation. It is not intended to replace therapy or counselling. Instead think of it as a set of sophisticated self help books, guided meditations and customized reports.

It can also be used in conjunction with professional support.

Created by

This program is created by a psychologist called Jay Earley PhD that he has also collaborated with his wife and professional partner Bonnie. Bonnie Weiss herself is an IFS therapist.

The theory that this program is based on is Pattern Systems and Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). A lot of work has gone into creating this online self therapy program with testing, feedback and tweaking to ensure it works to help people understand their deep healing and transformation.

Many years of scientific research has gone into each particular system to understand the patterns of each issue to help develop and create an effective system for working on those issues. Jay and his partner Bonnie have also written numerous books including, Freedom from Your Inner Critic and Activating Your Inner Champion Instead of Your Inner Critic. Another book he has written involves working on relationship patterns called Conflict, Care, and Love.

Program Details

This program is valuable and insightful that has self-therapy journey for a range of various issues.

You can either choose to work on improving a healthy capacity, work on a particular psychological issue or develop increased awareness around patterns that you may have developed.

The program is based on language which refers to Patterns that are common for individuals to experience. Capacities are also discussed which describes personal development such as assertiveness. It also includes relevant guided meditations.

Pattern System

The pattern system works on a systematic way of understanding the psychology behind your issues.

The self-therapy journey recognises that when we struggle with particular issues, we have created a pattern of behaviour that we continue which affects our interactions, How we feel in response to the negative patterns affects how we interact and engage in our world so the cycle continues. If we don’t interrupt this pattern, then those issues and patterns will continue to contribute to the issue continuing and having a negative impact on us. This program allows you to explore the pattern in detail to help you understand where it has come from and what you have been doing that has caused the emotional pain.

Through this program you are able to identify the issues you want to work on, recognise the pattern you have developed, then work towards your capacity to change those patterns.

The various patterns that are available to work through include:

Procrastination
Shyness
Anger
Inner Critic
Perfectionism
Depression
Eating Issues
Fear of conflict
People-pleasing
Fear of conflict
Lack of Intimacy
Lack of confidence
Low self esteem
Perfectionism
Playing the victim
Passive-Aggressive

These could even be confronting to see them as possible issues for you. If you feel you can relate to any of these, it’s okay to acknowledge that within yourself. Ask yourself how does this affect your interactions in your world? Is it something you feel you could work on and find a way to develop a new capacity to be able to overcome and conquer this issue? If you answered yes to these, then click on this link to get access to the issue that’s right for you.

By learning about your patterns, you will gain insight into your psyche and discover:

Your strengths
Your defenses
What drives your behavior
Why you feel bad about yourself
Your underlying emotional pain
How you compensate for that
Your inner conflicts
The leading edge of your growth

Capacities

The program also helps one work on improving an individual’s capacity. This means that it’s to help foster personal growth and development by working towards improvements in certain areas of your life.

Capacities include:

Assertiveness
Self Esteem
Self Care
Intimacy
Good Communication
Social Confidence

If you are wanting to improve any of these areas in your life, Self-Therapy can help you with this.

Quizzes

Many of us are curious about our inner workings, so it can help to find out more through doing a quiz. The Self-Therapy Journey site has a number of quizzes that you can do to find out more about yourself. Click on the link below that relates to you (if any). Always be cautious of how much information you get from doing a quiz and use only as a guide.

Program Costs

To start there is a 14 day free trial. After this, it’s $30/month subscription which is renewed after every month. This is for the Change Level. It gives you everything except the childhood origins of your patterns. If you want to work on the childhood origins of your patterns this will cost $40 per month.

The value in this is that it costs less than a monthly visit with a therapist while also having convenient, interactive online access to work through particular issues that are most relevant to you. Billing is in US Dollars.

There are also various books and bundles you can also purchase from the shop.

Who can Access

It is available internationally to anyone who is interested in working through issues listed as a pattern or capacity through the program.

Access from your own home, at your own pace, in your own timeframe.

This is also a useful program for professionals to refer to the program as a way to support their clients.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Benefits those with limited time to access face to face supports
Do at your own pace
Affordable compared with one on one therapist
Can work on a number of issues if you know what they are
Interactive online access
No lock in contracts, can be stopped at any time you choose.

Cons:

You may not be sure which issue you need to work on
If you experience more intense mental health issues, this may not be for you
Less personal interaction so unable to talk through a particular problem
Requires fairly good personal reflection

Don’t be too Proud

When you are struggling with any particular issue in your world it’s hard to manage it on your own. Sometimes it feels like you’re getting nowhere even though you have been reflecting on it, trying to understand where it’s coming from for a long time. It’s hard to do this on your own.

So many people have so many different ideas, and ways of doing things, It can actually be helpful to look beyond yourself and get ideas from elsewhere. I know when I’m working as a therapist, even though I feel like I’m doing a good job, it’s also helpful to broaden my professional reading, transcripts etc to learn of alternatives and strategies. This goes also with personal work with the problems you face. You don’t have to do this on your own, and in fact it’s a bit arrogant to think that your way is the only way to do things.

How much experience have you had in that particular issue that you’re struggling with? Have you learnt skills in how to cope with it? Life is full of surprises and can really throw a curveball when you least expect it. It’s okay to ask for help. Even if that’s working through it on your own with guidance. That’s where doing Self-Therapy can be of value and benefit.

What’s the Verdict – Do I recommend?

Yes, I definitely do recommend this program. I think it has a very solid foundation with very professional research developed by Dr Jay Earley creating an effective transformational program. It helps an individual develop valuable insights into their patterns, while helping create new capacities from the comfort of your own home.

For anyone who wants to engage in the reading and learning and do the work. No one can fix you and make you better without you doing the work through your issues.

If you want to improve your psychological health and overcome negative patterns that are holding you back in your relationships with others or yourself, consider prioritising you.

Get started and create transformational personal growth.

Further Support

Although I am comfortable referring to this program, if you are experiencing intense mental health issues that you are struggling to manage on your own, I encourage you to either contact a relevant helpline in your country or see a therapist face to face for additional support. If you are located in the US, you have access to other online counselling therapy services through Online-Therapy. You can also visit my post on where to go for further online support.

Leave comments below if you have had any experience with Self-Therapy Journey yourself.

The Healing Power of Gratitude

Have you ever wondered how gratitude can make any difference? The healing power of gratitude is something that can often be misunderstood and unappreciated.

Seeing news events where refugees are displaced, war torn zones of Iraq, African civil wars, and closer to home child abuse, domestic violence, shootings, drug addiction among many other issues that people face, it’s hard to know how to deal with all of these sad events knowing that we are limited with our capacity to stop the pain. There are many ways we can show our love and compassion. Shifting our own energy and looking for volunteer opportunities and donation opportunities can help various groups around the world. I know we can’t change the whole world or donate to every charity we come across. What I’m suggesting here is simply considering our own fortune, privilege and what we have can help us be more aware and consider finding a purpose to give and show compassion within our capacity.

When we think about just how much we do have, this can help us build on our compassion for others, and opens us to considering others perspectives and circumstances. This helps build on kindness and love for each other. I know each person’s circumstances are different, but it’s also about perspective. While some might have the latest iphone and sports car, another person can appreciate and be grateful for a second hand phone and a car that gets them from A to B. You don’t have to have a big house, expensive clothes and the latest stuff. Simply thinking of what you do have can help you feel more thankful for your own circumstances and build on compassion for others.

What is Gratitude

Gratitude is the feeling of being thankful for what you have in your life. Both physical, psychological and spiritual. Gratitude can be for circumstances rather than material things. It is a feeling that produces longer lasting positive emotions which has a positive effect on behaviour. According to the Harvard Medical School is,

‘a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives … As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals–whether to other people, nature, or a higher power’.

How can it heal?

Healing here is in the sense of our mental health and well being. We are a whole person with physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects. It is thought that our emotions can show themselves through our physical health too. According to the late Louise Hay when there is emotional disease, there is physical disease. One of her 100 quotes is, ‘my happy thoughts help create my healthy body’. Louise Hay believed that when we have negative emotions, they will show themselves in our physical body. So if you practice gratitude regularly, this can help heal your body as it can lift your emotions and help you practice self love and compassion.

Practicing gratitude can also increase feelings of love for those around us. This in turn increases our interactions with others, our energy and how we communicate. It also builds on our social connection with those around us.

Through gratitude or appreciation one can build on one’s spirituality and be grateful for breathing and being on this earth. It can be a rewarding feeling too.

It is based on giving of oneself in some way selflessly without expecting anything in return.

Either through positive thoughts or through positive interactions with others. This can heal social connections and nurture relationships. Being connected with others is essential to our general well being. Those without social connections struggle with their well being. As human beings we need to have social interactions of some kind. When we incorporate consciously building on increasing feelings of gratitude, we can build on our social connections with others, thus enhancing our personal well being.

Since gratitude can help boost one’s mood and create positive feelings, incorporating the practice of gratitude on a regular basis can be a strategy among various treatments to help support someone suffering from this complicated illness. Those who practice gratitude have also been shown to have a positive satisfaction to life.

What else can it do?

Gratitude can help to shift your mood. If you’ve ever found yourself feeling cranky or upset with something, it can be quite a challenge to shift those feelings. Especially if you feel hard done by, or that you’re not at fault for whatever the incident was. Instead, gratitude fosters positivity in those who practice it on a regular basis. Positivity has also been shown with improving one’s health through being able to make healthy choices.

I’ve even talked about this with my children as they often have lots of feelings including frustration. When we drive in the car, or sitting together on the lounge, it’s a good time for us to talk about and say at least one thing we each grateful for. This helps us bond with our children. It can also help them develop using gratitude as a strategy if they have a hard time with something they come across in their world.

Practicing gratitude can have a positive effect on our optimism.

Increased Happiness – Those who practice gratitude also feel happier within themselves. Research has also shown that this feeling lasts for a weeks.

Manifesting

Gratitude is often linked with manifesting something you want in life. This is based on physics where everything is energy. When one practices building on feelings of gratitude, one can manifest things they want in life. This might be in the area of improved friendships, attracting a partner, increasing wealth or improving health.

How to Practice Gratitude

Gratitude can be practiced in many different ways. Here’s a list of things that you can be grateful for just to get you started.

I am grateful for:-

a roof over my head
the career I have chosen
the support I have available to me
my health
my family
fabulous friends

These are just a few examples to get you thinking about the possibilities. I’m sure you can come up with numerous more, many and varied things that are relevant for you.

Journal: Some people find it helpful to write in a journal, either upon waking up, to start the new day or before going to bed. Both of these times help set up your mood for your day.

Before Sleep: What we think about before we go to sleep is very important as those thoughts get marinated for the next 8 hours. So practicing gratitude before going to sleep at night can help you have a restful, pleasant sleep and wake up in a positive mood.

Throughout the Day: On our way to work, driving, on the train or bus, we can practice and think about things we are grateful for.

When Feeling Stressed: When you notice your thoughts having a negative effect on your mood, it can help to think about something we are grateful for.

Guided Meditation: Some people like to practice gratitude with the help of a guided meditation. Here’s one of my favorite youtube people Jason Stephenson sharing his thoughts on gratitude.

I hope you have found some value in discovering the healing power of gratitude. What have you noticed when practicing gratitude yourself? Leave your comments below.

Tag: personal development

Review of Self-Therapy Journey – Can it Help