News

The Preventative Therapy Perspective: Why Mental Health Care Isn’t Just for Hard Times

Mental health care is not solely for times of distress. Behavioral health experts emphasize that therapy can serve as a lifelong wellness tool that helps you align with your values, build purpose and live your most intentional life.

Beyond the Medical Model

Psychotherapy was born from the medical model, which focused on identifying a problem, assigning a diagnosis and providing an intervention. Often deemed the father of psychotherapy, Sigmund Freud’s early work was designed to treat illness and unconscious drivers of behavior. This approach reflected the times, when people only went to the doctor when there was an ailment or crisis. However, Vail Health believes physical health care should be a more functional, wellness-oriented and holistic field centered on prevention and self-care. So why shouldn’t mental health care follow suit?

“Just as we go to the doctor for annual check-ups, we can go to therapy for regular wellness checks,” says Dr. Paige Baker-Braxton, clinical psychologist and Vail Health's senior director of behavioral health. “Not because something is broken, but to optimize relationships, manage stress, develop resilience, refine identity, prepare for change and navigate transitions.”

Going to therapy and utilizing regular check-ins as a preventive care measure becomes a way of life. Licensed professional counselor Matt Lawson, who has a personal training background, uses going to the gym as an analogy. “Therapy is training for the brain. It can strengthen your mental fortitude like you strengthen your muscles at the gym.”

You do not need to see a therapist on a weekly basis to gain the necessary tools to optimize your life. It is simply important to make it a priority and a regular practice, which can look different for everyone. Once preventive therapy becomes a regular part of your life, you will find that you are better equipped to cope in times of unease.

Dr. Baker-Braxton emphasizes the incredible capacity of the human brain to adapt, rewire, and grow. One of the most powerful examples of this is post-traumatic growth when, after trauma, the right support, scaffolding, and therapeutic work can allow a person not just to return to baseline, but to evolve into a stronger, more resilient, and self-aware version of themselves. If the brain can achieve that level of transformation in the aftermath of adversity, imagine the potential when that same capacity is harnessed proactively through preventive therapy and intentional growth work before a crisis ever occurs. The results can be exponential, expanding emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, sense of purpose, and overall psychological resilience.

Empowered Growth

The mental health professionals at Vail Health look at each patient as a whole. They take into account your lived experiences and complexities. The proactive therapy work does not live in a vacuum. Even though you are not entering therapy due to a stressor, it does not mean your history is not a crucial part of your journey. Your therapist works to empower you to feel confident in the work you are putting in, rather than create dependence.

“Therapy isn’t only about healing from what has happened to you,” Dr. Baker-Braxton says, “It is about intentionally shaping how you see yourself and the world around you. Proatvite therapy is not only about recovery, it’s about gaining clarity, growth and living your life with resilience and purpose.”

How to Align With “Values Work”

Proactive therapy is about intentionally meeting your needs and strengthening yourself before a crisis. It looks different for everyone but often includes a deepening self-awareness, improving relationships, or enhancing purpose. One powerful way to navigate preventive therapy lies in conversations and exercises about your values, known as values work. The ultimate goal is to have an ongoing dialogue about what holds significance and what you prioritize in life. What are your goals on a daily, personal scale and on a larger, community scale? Who do you want to be? What is important to you?

These prompts can help you explore your “why”:

• What three values feel most important in your life right now?
• How do your daily choices reflect (or contradict) them?
• Where are you spending your energy that doesn’t align with what matters most?
• What small shift could bring you closer to living in alignment?

Once these are established, you and your therapist look at your life to see what parts are aligned and what parts are not. From here, you work together to create a treatment plan – or a roadmap for growth - with actionable steps you take that are aligned with your values. At its core, this is limitless goal-setting. You are not alone and your therapist becomes your architect of change.

Lawson says that this values work is like a software system constantly working in the background while you live your life. It is important to intentionally make decisions, whether it’s about your career or how you spend your morning, with your values at the forefront. 

Lawson explains that when an individual is living a life not aligned with their values, or ignoring their software system, the human brain compensates “to replace that void with something that potentially does not align with their values.” Often, individuals reach for substances or fall into self-limiting or self-harming patterns to fill in the gaps. This is why preventive therapy is proactive; it gives you time and a safe space to get ahead of possible unhealthy or unproductive behaviors and thoughts.

The values work serves both as a foundation to help you navigate the harder times in life, as well as a catalyst for reaching your highest self, helping you discover or rediscover a grounded, confident sense of belonging in this world. Whether you have been seeing a therapist for preventive therapy for years or you are ready to embark on this lifelong journey, remember to remain curious. Curiosity is your tool for exploration, where you are willing to put in the work for yourself, your future self and your loved ones. All the while be assured that your therapist at Vail Health is there for you each and every step of the way.