Psychoeducation
An explanation of how a difficulty works — part of therapy, not an introduction to it.
Why it matters
Once you understand what happens in the body during a panic attack, or why you respond as you do after trauma, fear of your own experience decreases. That in itself lowers symptoms.
What we do with it in therapy
I don’t deliver explanations as a lecture, but at the moment they connect to your experience. This knowledge base is, in effect, psychoeducation in written form.
See also
Rationalisation
A reasonable-sounding explanation for something you did for entirely different reasons.
Cortisol
The hormone that keeps the body on standby over the long term — useful in a burst, burdensome as a constant flow.
Shame
The feeling that something is wrong with you — as distinct from guilt, which says something is wrong with what you did.
