This article assumes you're just going to follow the advice it gives. If you can in fact do that, you're half-way there.
But some people have strong resistance to doing anything that will get them closer to the dread task, and will instead distract themselves (say with video games or any number of other distractions), or by doing some other less-dreaded task, etc.
There could be some underlying cause for such resistance which no amount of visualization, coaching, coffee, or workouts could touch.
This is where working with the right therapist might help. "Right therapist" being the key phrase there. There are so many different therapists out there, and so many different approaches to therapy too. What might work for one person might not for another.
> This is where working with the right therapist might help.
What exactly would a therapist do? Saying consult a therapist seems a bit like a trope. It isn't within itself an answer.
Simply talking through the mental block as if it is a rational decision isn't particularly helpful, a lot of the bad roadblocks are something deeper than your conscious mind or inner monologue.
For example, there are many people who have read the books, followed the steps, and still struggle daily with these kind of dread task problem that seemingly get worse the longer you avoid them.
"What exactly would a therapist do? Saying consult a therapist seems a bit like a trope. It isn't within itself an answer."
Seeing a therapist won't magically make your problems disappear, but it could give you insight in to their cause, and if the therapist is good they could help you overcome those problems.
No one should be under the illusion that it'll be the therapist doing all the hard work. The hard work will have to mostly come from you. As the saying goes, you have to want to change.. and also you have to be able to put in the work to change.
The difference between this and trying to go it alone is that you'll have a trained professional on your side helping you to see your own blind spots, making suggestions you might not have thought of, and hopefully helping you to open up and look at issues you, your family, and your friends aren't trained to or necessarily willing or able to uncover or face.
It's no guarantee, however. Maybe you'll wind up with an ineffective therapist, or a therapist you can't trust, or a therapist you don't like, or one that's using the wrong methodology for you, or maybe you just won't be willing or able to put in the hard work or face the pain you might encounter along the way of self-discovery and change. No guarantees. But hope and professional help and support -- things you might be lacking if you've tried to go it alone and failed.
Some of us are stuck in a loop and need more than another self-help book or blog post to make progress with our issues.
Or maybe therapists just don't work and have no evidence of working for this kind of disorder. The argument that "maybe you wind up with an ineffective therapist" is a pure No True Scotsman. How do you know which therapist is effective and when, or whether they are better than talking to friends or perhaps just time?
Actual scientists are having problems formulating good effectiveness studies there. Much less a person with problems who is geographically limited and cannot shop around.
While in some cases there is clear evidence, trying to fix personal issues with work like this is not one of them.
Only a psychiatrist (an actual medical doctor) can prescribe medication.
A therapist is usually what people refer to as a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), who does "talk therapy". They are typically NOT MDs, so they do NOT prescribe meds, because they can't.
I'm not from the US, so I'm not familiar with that system. Although I would have expected "therapist" to mean a psychiatrist in the context of attention control (as opposed to interpersonal relationships).
One way to think of the difference is: whereas one focuses on helping you feel better through mere conversation[1], the other focuses on achieving the same goal but through the use of chemicals.
They are not mutually exclusive, and everyone's thoughts and bodies are "wired" differently, so it's very common to have a combination of both solutions (talking & meds) to achieve the same goal.
I think too many people think "therapy" == meds 100%, and that is absolutely not true. Many people can benefit from just the "talk" therapy (no meds) and feel better about it.
[1] I say "mere" conversation in jest, but it is no less significant (IMHO), than that of a lawyer's output (mere words too, right?)
But some people have strong resistance to doing anything that will get them closer to the dread task, and will instead distract themselves (say with video games or any number of other distractions), or by doing some other less-dreaded task, etc.
There could be some underlying cause for such resistance which no amount of visualization, coaching, coffee, or workouts could touch.
This is where working with the right therapist might help. "Right therapist" being the key phrase there. There are so many different therapists out there, and so many different approaches to therapy too. What might work for one person might not for another.