A common misconception is that psychotherapy is for getting advice. This is not what therapy is truly about. This is because psychotherapy is not about what you consciously know or don't know. It is about what you cannot allow yourself to realize, which is about how emotions effect what you already know. We often know what we want to do but feel powerless to act on that knowledge, and despite admonitions to "just do it", it is not that simple. This is where psychotherapy comes in and can be uniquely helpful.
Another unfortunate misconception is that psychotherapy is about the past or about establishing blame. Likely, this is due to the fact that problems in life are problems with development, and development occurs most dramatically and impactfully during the most vulnerable periods of childhood. When we look to the past in psychotherapy, it is in the hope of discovering and clarifying the past that is in the present and being repeated in dysfunctional patterns.
