Reasons for Coming to Therapy — Transcription
Hi again, everyone. Today I’m going to talk about different reasons that people come to therapy. My goal is to try and break the stigma that therapy is a bad thing, or you have to see a therapist only when you’re dealing with something really severe, like severe depression or suicidal thoughts – things like that. Of course, that’s a reason to come to therapy, but it’s definitely not the only reason. So I’m just going to explain a couple of reasons that I’ve seen that people come to therapy that might not be as obvious. So of course, you have your mental disorders, like anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD (or post-traumatic stress disorder), trauma, things like that. That may be a little more severe where you actually have something of a diagnosis, but you also have other things like career changes. If you’re looking to move into a new career and you’re not quite sure what that looks like.
If you just moved into a new career and you’re struggling getting settled, that’s something that people come if you’re dealing with any sort of life transition. So if you’ve moved to a new city and maybe you don’t have family or friends around or you’re just trying to get settled, if you are experiencing something new in your life, like a new child, that can definitely be a transition that you may need help figuring out how to cope with being in a new relationship or a new marriage. Also if you’re dealing with relationship issues, you can either go to couples counseling or individual counseling, just to deal with the things that you’re dealing with in the relationship, if you’re experiencing grief or any sort of loss, if you lost somebody or something. And you’re really just not feeling like you’re coping well, you can come to therapy for that as well.
And then if you’re just feeling stressed, sometimes we just are feeling overwhelmed and need to talk to someone about it. That’s not in our lives that isn’t too close to us like your family or friends. So, you know, your body, you know, how you feel, you know, your science, where you’re just not doing well or something’s off. If that’s the case, then you can definitely reach out and see a therapist. Being in therapy doesn’t mean that you have to see a therapist for five years. It could mean that you see a therapist for a couple of months or a couple of years. It’s not really a set time. So it’s important to recognize that just because you’re seeing a therapist, doesn’t mean it’s a commitment for this really long-term event that you’re going to be doing weekly forever. So hopefully that helps break some of that stigma. If you’re struggling or you notice somebody struggling again with any of these issues, just reach out to someone and try to get them help or yourself help. You can go to Psychology Today to find therapists. You can ask me if you’d like me to help you find a therapist, something like that. You know, just to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself, especially during these times. So I will see you next week and have a good rest of your week.