About The Crescent Moon
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WHO ARE WE?
We are a group of psychologists, psychiatrists, consultants, motivational speakers, workshop facilitators, coaches, etc. who all are working towards a shared goal of eradicating the mental health crisis in our country by providing an educational, easily accessible, and impactful platform for anyone who wants to work on their mental health and well-being.
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We are a team that is working hard towards making mental health accessible at your fingertips and an easy click can book you a session with the expert most suitable to your individual needs at our platform.
Why Mental Health Is Important And What Is The Role Of Counselling And Psychotherapy In Mental Health?
World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
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Mental health aspect of our well-being is as important as the physical aspect of our well-being. Mental health refers to the psychological, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Mental health includes how we feel, how we think, how we behave, etc. It is important for people of all ages, people from every field, people from every country. Taking good care of your mental health can have a positive effect on your daily functioning, relationships, work, self-esteem, coping skills, and all the other aspects of your life.
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According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, receiving treatment for a mental health condition takes an average of 11 years for a person. Early intervention, on the other hand, can help to mitigate the negative effects of mental illness on one's health, career, and relationships.
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How To Take Care Of Your Mental Health?
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Spend time with your support system
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Talk about your feelings
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Reduce alcohol consumption
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Seek counselling and psychotherapy
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Avoid drug consumption
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Be physically active
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Eat healthy
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Give time to your hobbies
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Relax and self-care
What Can Affect Your Mental Health?
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Biological factors
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Life events
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Natural disasters
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Family history of mental health issues
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Lifestyle choices
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Abuse
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Neglect
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Constrained interpersonal relationships
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Humans are social beings and it's not easy for us to live alone and not have someone to talk to in our daily lives. Even if we manage to pull that off on normal days, it gets difficult when we are in a low mood, alone or when we are dealing with anxiousness or going through something in our lives. We need someone to talk to, someone to share our deep feelings, thoughts, talk about anything that bothers us. You must have noticed that when you are feeling low or restless when you have those thoughts that you haven’t shared with anyone and kept to yourself for a period of time, but when you are finally able to unload that in a conversation with your friends or partners or family, you feel a little relaxed, you feel that everything is going to get better with time, and sometimes even take their advice. However, sometimes we are in such a situation that we don’t want to discuss our concerns with our close ones due to a fear of judgment, people not understanding what we are going through, and we need a safer, non-judgmental, and open space for ourselves. We feel that we should talk to someone with whom we are free to share anything and everything without any negative comments or judgments or useless advice, someone who might guide us or clear the fog that has been forming for long making it difficult for us to think or act properly. This happens because there is a need to share but there is a bigger need to be understood, validated, and feel heard.
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Working day and night relentlessly and not having a happy life, living in a cocoon affects our minds more than we realize. When the COVID-19 pandemic pushed us into our homes, everything changed a lot for us, we felt anxious, scared, alone, hopeless, etc. Every human being was stuck in their respective homes. The entire medical fraternity was working on much longer shifts and was going through so much simultaneously with the massive flow of patients, death of people on a large scale, and there was no light because the outbreak was impacting and collapsing the entire world. We also saw a lot of news headlines and coverages of suicides during the pandemic and since then, there has been an increased awareness about mental health and therapy among the people and especially the role of counselling in our life has been highlighted. Almost everybody needs therapy for a better and quality life. When we heard about the work-from-home concept or online classes, everybody got thrilled as they thought that this is going to be a very easy and exciting life as they can do anything, anywhere, and enjoy their lives without having to commute to their workplace but as time passed by people realized that not only the physical health is getting affected but mental health is also deeply affected, precisely, more affected and constantly deteriorating due to a plethora of reasons.
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When we talk about mental health professionals working with emotional, physical, and psychological aspects of health, we specifically mean to refer to counselling psychologists, clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists. Counselling psychologists/psychotherapists/clinical psychologists/counsellors do not prescribe medicines, rather they try their level best to heal you with the psychotherapy that's most suited for your unique individuality. Therapy often includes giving you fun activities and tasks to do to help you grow and work on your holistic well-being. Psychiatrists are the doctors who give you medicine to heal and are often trained in psychotherapy to help their clients better with their healing journey.
Let Us Now Understand The Role Played By Each Type Of Mental Health Professional (MHPs):-
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Clinical psychologists in India are those who have an M. Phil in Clinical Psychology and are licensed by the RCI (Rehabilitation Council of India) and they usually work in hospital settings as well as private practices and they work with people with serious mental illnesses and clinical cases but often they also work with clients with daily life issues that can range from personal life to work-life or anything for that matter. They do not prescribe any medication but often refer their clients to psychiatrists for medication if needed.
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Counselling Psychologists in India are those who have at least a Masters in Psychology and they mainly work with a wide range of issues that are usually related to the day-to-day life of people (work stress, relationship issues, work-life balance, self-esteem, trauma, confidence, stress management, self-love, time management, procrastination, and many more) and also deal with mild to moderate cases of depression, anxiety, and other mental health-related issues. They also do not prescribe medications.
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Psychotherapists in India are those who have at least a Master's degree in Psychology plus also training in a specific modality of therapy. They also work with a wide range of issues faced by people. They also don’t prescribe medications.
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Psychiatrists in India are those who have an MBBS plus an MD in Psychiatry and they can prescribe medications as well as psychotherapy.
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When you have a fever, it is so easy to simply go to a physician nearby to take their prescribed medicines and advice over your food habits for a few days till you feel better physically and the fever is gone. The problem with issues around mental health is that people feel shame in admitting they need to see a mental health professional and would like to work on their mental well-being because there is a lot of stigmas that are attached to mental health in our country and people fear the judgment they would face if they see a therapist. On that note, it is also important to put it out there that our perspectives are changing slowly and we wish to see the day where mental health is given the same status as the physical health is given and we, the team at Crescent moon is actively working towards making that day come soon in our country.
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How Counselling and Psychotherapy Can Help?
Counselling and psychotherapy can offer guidance, support, and a safe space to talk about the problems a person is struggling with within their life.
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For example, it is often helpful for people to:
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Understand their own emotions
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Identify issues that are affecting them
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Discover their own abilities
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Work through their issues
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Work on self-esteem
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Learn better coping skills
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Learn to take care of themselves
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Work on their personal growth
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Understand themselves better
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Work on trauma-resolution
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All qualified and trained mental health professionals ae equipped to work through mental health related issues and provide the space and treatment for people to become better versions of themselves and work on their healing and journey towards mental health and holistic well-being.
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MHPs often work with people who are facing difficulties related to:
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Grief or loss
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Addiction
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Phobias
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Anger Management
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Anxiety
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Depression
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Eating Disorders
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Relationship And Family Difficulties
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Time Management
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Work-Life Balance
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Assertiveness
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Building Boundaries And Maintain Them, etc.
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Some MHPs specialise in one or more of these difficulties, and they work with a variety of therapy modalities. They can also provide specialised training to assist individuals with time management, assertiveness, and other issues. The key difficulties or problems that a person or group finds distressing are usually addressed in counselling and psychotherapy. Mental health experts can assist people in overcoming challenges, hurdles, or events that have had an impact on their mental health by doing so.
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Therapists can teach good coping mechanisms or self-help approaches, or they can just provide a safe environment for clients to figure out their own answers. If necessary, they may recommend their client to other services that may be of benefit, such as a doctor, dietitian, support group, or another therapist who specialises in the area in which the client seeks help. For example – A therapist works with a client who first came into work on her confidence but in the further sessions, the therapist realizes that the client needs a trauma-focused approach so they would talk to the client and refer them to a trauma-focused therapist.
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It is not necessary for you to experience severe symptoms to see a counselling psychologist/psychotherapist. Many people seek counselling because they feel it is helpful for them to have a safe and non-judgmental space that benefits them on their journey to personal growth, space to vent out, and working towards becoming a better version of themselves.
Advantages of Psychotherapy and Counselling:
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Psychotherapy and counselling enables people with mental illnesses to:
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Recognize and modify the behaviours, emotions, and ideas that contribute to their illness;
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Recognize and identify the life problems or events that contribute to their illness, such as a major illness, a family death, a job loss, or a divorce, and help them understand which aspects of those problems they may be able to solve or improve; and
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Regain a sense of contentment and pleasure in life.
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Learn various coping strategies to work through their issues
Psychotherapy and counselling can also assist you in the following ways:
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Recognize the behaviours, emotions, and ideas that may be at the root of your concerns and learn how to navigate through them
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Regain a sense of control and pleasure in life
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Recognize the life events that may be at the base of your difficulties, such as illness, divorce, or childhood trauma
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Learn how to deal with difficulties in a healthy way
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Learn how to manage conflicts with people
Usually counselling and psychotherapy can be extremely helpful for people with issues related to their day-to-day life. Sometimes psychotherapy can be an effective first line of treatment for mental disorders, but in serious conditions, a combination of talk therapy and medication may work best for an individual.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. What are the signs that I should seek help to take care of my mental health?
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If you are wondering how to know if you should seek counselling and psychotherapy, take a look at these common reasons mentioned as follows:
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change in your eating habits
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changes in your sleeping
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feeling low on energy
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feelings of helpless, hopelessness, and worthlessness
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thoughts of self-harming
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drinking, taking drugs, or smoking more than usual
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daily functioning is affected
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difficult to take care of yourself and others around you
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feeling sad, angry, upset, scared, etc.
Q. What is the importance of mental health?
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Mental health is a very important thing but due to lack of adequate awareness and stigma attached to it, people often overlook their mental health and keep suffering. Mental and physical health are so much more connected than we ever realize. Mental health has an effect on the physical health and physical health has an impact on the mental health. We need to take care of our holistic health to live a happy, healthy, and content life.
Q. What is the purpose of counselling and psychotherapy?
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Therapy is often used to refer to psychotherapy or counselling, is the process of working in collaboration with a therapist to resolve negative thought patterns, behavioural problems, core beliefs, feelings, interpersonal issues, somatic issues related to the body, etc.
Q. What all can counselling and psychotherapy help me with?
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Therapy and counselling can help you with a wide range of issues like relationship issues, stress management, work-life balance, time management, workplace stress, self-awareness, self-esteem, trauma, abuse, neglect, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, personality issues, and various other things.