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Humour, stories and respectful language can help people talk about mental health. Here is how to describe your experience in your own words.

Breaking the silence

Comedians, writers and everyday storytellers have helped many people feel more at ease discussing mental health, a topic that once felt off limits in lots of families. Clear, respectful education can make unfamiliar experiences easier to talk about. Understanding the person behind a diagnosis is far more useful than reducing them to a scary or dismissive stereotype.

No perfect vocabulary required

Talking with Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, whose training includes psychotherapy, you are free to describe what you are experiencing without the right technical terms. Everyday language is fine: feeling flat, on edge, foggy or overwhelmed all convey something real. If Christine uses a word you do not recognise, ask what it means. If a label feels confusing or uncomfortable, say so; it is a valid part of the discussion.

Language that opens doors

Respectful language should make care easier to reach and talk about. It also needs to leave space for proper assessment, appropriate treatment and your own account of your life. You are not defined by a term on a form, and a good conversation reflects that.

• Use your own words first, and refine them together later.
• Notice which labels feel helpful and which feel limiting.
• Ask how terms are used in any letters or reports.

Setting your direction

Therapy should keep your priorities in view. Talk about what you hope to understand, what seems difficult to shift and how you would notice things changing in daily life. Check how often the two of you will pause to look back over the work, and what to do if something shifts between appointments. Your GP remains an important partner, and emergency services are the right call if you ever feel unsafe.

Clients who already value the calm of hands-on visits at the Lane Cove clinic often find the same gentle atmosphere helps conversations about wellbeing flow more easily.

A short list of words that describe how you have been feeling, written in whatever language feels natural, is a perfectly good way to start a first session.