Q: Is it better to address biological causes of issues before going into therapy or go into therapy first?
A: As a therapist, I advise my clients in the initial intake that we want to address anything going on physically and to rule out physiological issues before we address treatment goals in therapy. You want to assess when you last had a physical, what’s going on biologically, then address your psycho-emotional well-being.
There is so much to our physiological makeup and while it’s interconnected to our psychological well-being, the physiological underlying imbalances in the body that can affect normal brain function must be addressed in order to achieve the optimal success of psychotherapy. While everyone should have a primary medical practitioner, they would benefit from having a primary therapist so the two can be optimized and integrated into a whole balanced life.