How Do I Know It’s Time for Therapy?

In our last blog we covered what therapy is and what it is not! People seek out therapy for a variety of reasons and at varied times in life. Some start early on, and some don’t go until they are elderly. Have you ever sat and wondered to yourself, “should I consider going to therapy?” or perhaps you’ve had a friend share their therapy experience and insights and wondered if it might be time for you to take the step. But the question remains: “how do I know it’s time?” There are many good indications it might be time to see what therapy has to offer you.

So often we hear phrases like “I’m always there for everyone else, but who is there for me?” This speaks to the reality that many of us have a good listening ear and work hard to be there for others, but often find ourselves craving to be listened to in return. It can be hard to talk about ourselves when we are so used to listening, or when we don’t know what to say or where to start. In counseling you work together with your therapist to find that starting point.

From that starting point, you can begin to process and make sense of your life. Many of us experience patterns that play out again and again in our relationships and we don’t know how to change them. These interpersonal dynamics can look like codependency, avoidance, anxious attachment, or other relational struggles. Our lack of change in how we relate to others can often impact the quality of our relationships. This is one of those areas that can be brought to therapy to explore and improve! Many of us wonder to ourselves, “how do I know what are healthy boundaries to set in my relationships?” And some of us know what healthy boundaries are but have a hard time setting them, and we may just need some practical skills for how to put them in place.

“If you have a desire to explore making meaning of a struggle in your life or desire to inspire change where you have felt stuck, it may be time to try therapy. ”

You may come to counseling because feel you are unable to regulate your emotions or cope effectively with your internal world and would like to have the copings skills to care for yourself better. Perhaps you have had some people in your life suggest you talk to someone, and you haven’t known if it would even help! Maybe you know that you may have trauma or childhood wounds that still impact you or you find yourself just wishing you understood yourself better. If you have a desire to explore making meaning of a struggle in your life or desire to inspire change where you have felt stuck, it may be time to try therapy.

Finally, the prevalence and awareness of issues like anxiety, depression, ADHD or other mental health areas is growing. With that comes an added opportunity to address these things. These issues often cause distress that impacts daily life or relationships with the self and others, and are often what bring people to therapy. If these struggles are a part of your world and you feel unequipped in dealing with them or wonder what it would feel like to be supported in your journey, it may be time to go to therapy. Why not try it and see?

Toward wholeness,

Michelle Waldrop