Good Times to Go to Therapy
This month we begin to enter spring and we move just beyond a year of being in a global pandemic.
The long winter offers us a time for introspection and reflection. As we approach spring, many of us begin to enter a period of growth.
The idea of therapy has perhaps crossed our minds, but how do we know when we should go to therapy? Who is therapy even for? The short answer: therapy is for everyone, at any time!
There seems to be a myth that therapy is only for when something is going bad or when we’ve encountered something tragic.
The truth, however, is that therapy is a great space to approach and understand our lives, whether going through a particularly difficult time, feeling great about how things are going, or needing a little guidance through uncertainty.
Therapy offers a space to recognize patterns or beliefs that may be helpful or unhelpful, heal past wounds and recognize how they affect us in the present, and therapy can help make us more resilient.
When life isn’t going well:
So you’re feeling down in the dumps, out of control, or going through a specific hard time? Therapy is a great place for you to gain support. Feeling like life is going poorly may look like struggling to connect with others and feeling isolated in your life.
Perhaps you are experiencing persistent anxiety that prevents you from doing the things you want to do. You may feel like you can’t cope with your feelings and emotions or like you have no outlet for them. You may have old wounds that have left unhealed scars and are still affecting you today. These are all excellent reasons to reach out and give therapy a chance.
The way in which we understand and measure the quality of our life will differ from person to person to person. If you recognize that life isn’t going very well right now, whether feeling drastically unwell or just a bit off, therapy is a great place to begin to understand why things aren’t going well.
Therapy can offer you tools to work through adversity and help you come out the other side better equipped to deal with all that life has to offer. Have you been through or are you going through some tough times? How would a dedicated space for support help shift things?
When things feel off:
So you’re feeling off, confused, or uncertain? Therapy is a great space to gain validation, clarity, and new strategies. You may feel like each day is a challenge to get through. Especially now, as we navigate collective anxiety and grief, virtual work and social lives, and, for many, chronic feelings of fatigue and lack of motivation.
Perhaps you have habits, patterns, or beliefs that are limiting you from where you would like to be. You may still be doing your usual activities but find yourself enjoying them less and less. Perhaps it feels difficult to maintain your normal routines or habits.
You may not recognize immediately when things feel off and these incongruities will likely manifest differently in each of our lives. Often they are smaller, subtler things that build up and lead to larger challenges over time. Whether they feel big or small right now, when things just don’t feel quite right in your life, having a space to regularly reflect and tap into your intuition and understanding can be useful.
How do you know when things feel off? What are your signals and what are the patterns that cause things to feel off in your life?
When life is going well:
This one may seem counterintuitive at first, perhaps you are thinking "therapy is only for when something is wrong.” Therapy is a great resource and support at any time in your life; in fact, there are a lot of good things about going to therapy when life is going well. Going to therapy when life is going well can help us dive deeper into our inner selves and understand how we have formed patterns and where some of our beliefs stem from.
Therapy also allows us to recognize those patterns, both helpful and unhelpful. Going to therapy when things are going well can be particularly beneficial because it can act as a preparatory and preventative measure in our lives.
Therapy gives us the tools and understanding to navigate the world and our lives. Therapy makes us more resilient to adversity, helps us process challenging emotions, and prepares us for the discomfort life has to offer.
There is a place for joy, playfulness, excitement, and the other positive emotions in therapy sessions, too! Life is full of ups and downs; therapy bolsters our experience of the positive and makes us resilient and prepared for the downturns. Do you make space in your days for introspection and reflection when things are going well?
Next steps
Therapy is a tool and resource to help us analyze our lives in a safe environment. It helps us become more resilient in the face of adversity and can illuminate beliefs and patterns that may be adding to or taking away from our lives. Therapy can be just as helpful when life is going well as when it is challenging. Have you found therapy has been beneficial even in the good times? I invite you to make space to take a step back from your life and see it from above. If guidance sounds like it would be helpful, book a free consultation.
