10 Reasons Why Therapy Can Be Helpful For You
Is it time to start therapy? I get a lot of inquiries from people who have been told they need therapy, feel like they need therapy, or are just plain curious. Before I get into some of the reasons why therapy can be helpful, I should share that it’s my personal belief that therapy benefits all people. It facilitates growth, self-awareness, and is akin to a workout for the psyche— “brain stretching” if you would.
Below are 10 reasons why therapy can be beneficial for you.
Couples or family relationship distress - This includes relational dynamics, particularly in relationships in which the system is feeling stuck or misunderstood. During the pandemic, this factor could have greatly exacerbated the distress. Therapy can give you the support you need to change paradigms or leave them behind.
Alcohol or drug use - A trained therapist can help with drug issues, serving as an excellent treatment option to accompany other recovery programs.
Loneliness - Feeling lonely and isolated can make you vulnerable to all manner of health conditions, from dementia to paranoia and beyond. Under a therapist’s guidance, you can learn to take steps to reintegrate into society, whether through remote connections (during the pandemic), getting outdoors and communing with nature, or reuniting with family and friends. Often people who have slipped into loneliness need a lot of encouragement to take these steps. A therapist can help in this regard.
Feelings of depression - Lethargy, dampened feeling, lack of pleasure in things that once brought you joy, inexplicable and/or sustained crying or sadness—all of these may be difficult to navigate. A therapist can help you navigate these feelings or experiences.
Sexual problems - Lack of desire and sexual-performance issues all respond well to therapy. In many cases, this is a particularly important area of treatment for those who are in an intimate relationship with a partner/partners or spouse.
Physical problems - The mind-body connection is powerful, and we are still at the vanguard of unraveling all the ways mental health impacts physical wellbeing. With a therapist’s help, it is possible to cope or change your relationship with your physical wellbeing.
Employment difficulties - Troubles at work can be impacted and/or impact many different areas of our lives such as, troubles at home or internal emotional struggles. Therapy can help you get back on track by exploring solutions to employment issues.
Attaining goals & changing habits - Goal-setting and achievement are crucial parts of life. With a therapists guidance, goal setting can become a collaboration for which you can start building small and implementable steps for achieving your goals.
Grief - Grief counseling can help guid you to talk about the loss, who the person was to you, and the circumstances surrounding the loss.
Anxiety - The modern world, particularly in 2020 and 2021, is filled with reasons for feeling anxiety. But when anxiety becomes too much, therapy is a great option. Exploring the anxieties, receiving reassurance, and developing coping mechanisms goes a long way to reducing anxiety to a manageable level.
So, is it time to start therapy? If one or more of the above circumstances is present in your life, therapy may be the solution for you. Speaking with friends and family about the decision to seek therapy can be helpful to gain an outside perspective, and, more than anything, a session with a therapist is the ideal way to determine whether therapy is either recommended or necessary for you.
