We can, ironically, choose to be "strong" and ignore these messages from within, or we can listen to our feelings, pay attention to our hopes, develop needed abilities, seek to improve our relationships with others, and work to change some ways we behave that block our happiness. Problems that concern your inner well-being and the health of your relationships with others who are important to you are better resolved than buried, and the earlier they are given the attention they deserve, the easier your path through change to a better life will be. {29} 3 BRIDGES FROM HERE TO THERE AN OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD OF THERAPY THE HELPING PROFESSIONAL Professionals in the fields of counseling and psychotherapy have a wide range of different backgrounds and perspectives. They can be broken down into these categories: _Social work counselors_: counselors for individuals; marriage and family counselors; group counselors; and vocational guidance counselors _Psychologists_: clinical psychologists; counseling psychologists; and psychometrists _Psychiatrists_ _Other therapists_: religious counselors; biofeedback therapists; hypnotherapists; relaxation and meditation instructors; holistic therapists such as bioenergetics therapists, yoga instructors, and exercise therapists; etc. The education, supervised training, and outlooks of these professionals vary greatly, as do their fees and the average length of time therapy can be expected to last. We will look more closely at these differences later on. {30} THE RANGE OF APPROACHES TO THERAPY Because of their differences in training and personal or theoretical preferences, the distinct classes of therapists represent a diversity of approaches to therapy. There are numerous schools of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, group therapy, and marriage and family therapy, and a range of approaches to personal adjustment, including exercise therapies, relaxation techniques, forms of meditation, and drug and nutrition therapies. From any one of these, a multitude of schools of thought branches out. For example, psychoanalysis has, since Freud, developed along a number of different lines: each major psychoanalyst has formulated his or her own approach to analysis that distinguishes itself from Freud's. Psychotherapy, to take another example, is not a single approach to therapy, but rather makes up an entire field. It is the largest and most rapidly growing area relating to mental health. In it are included distinct approaches, such as client-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, transactional analysis, rational-emotive therapy, existential-humanistic therapy, reality therapy, logotherapy, Adlerian therapy, emotional flooding therapies, and direct decision therapy.