How do I know if I need therapy?

Is therapy for me?

Have you ever wondered if therapy is for you?  If you would benefit from individual therapy with a mental health professional?  Maybe the thought of sharing details of your life to a Therapist doesn’t sound very appealing, but you are in need of help, and fast!

This blog will discuss 2 different types of therapy and will hopefully help you decide whether therapy is for you and which kind of therapy will be most beneficial to you and with what you are going through.  

Short-Term Therapy

Short-term therapy is typically completed in 8-12 sessions and helps to resolve your struggles in the short term.  Think of short-term therapy as putting a cork in the boat to keep you afloat or fixing a flat tire on your car to get you from place to place.  Short-term therapy is a quick solution to something you are struggling with now.

For example, maybe you are struggling with a falling-out with a friend or family member and need some help making sense of it.  Or maybe you are going through a stressful time and can directly pin-point the source of your stress and need to learn some coping skills to get through it.  Or perhaps you are going through a new transition and it's becoming difficult to assimilate to the newness of things.  

Short-term therapy typically helps you address specific struggles or stressors that you have encountered in the present moment.  Short term therapy then provides you with a safe place to discuss these struggles you are dealing with and will equip you with effective coping skills to manage these stressors and overcome the negative that you are feeling.  

Long-term Therapy

Longer-term therapy typically takes more than a couple of months of therapy to complete.  This is because, along with your therapist, you are assessing patterns that contribute to your adverse feelings and experiences that continue to pull you under.  Think of long-term therapy as “what is the boat?” and “driving your car more efficiently” (as opposed to the short-term therapy: “put a cork in the boat leak” and “fix the flat tire” metaphors). 

You may benefit from long-term therapy if you are struggling with a history of trauma, childhood trauma, your relationships are continuing to fall apart, you can’t maintain friendships, you are constantly over-stressed and anxious, or you struggle with clinical or ongoing depression or a sad mood that you can’t overcome.  

Longer-term therapy helps you assess certain patterns in your behavior that may be the culprits to the negative that you are feeling and experiencing.  Longer-term therapy involves looking for a deeper meaning and reasoning for why you feel the way you feel or why your life is the way that it is.  It involves establishing a deeper relationship with yourself and a deeper journey to overcome what is holding you back.

Conclusion

Whether you are looking for a little stability or a deeper relationship with yourself, therapy can be extremely helpful.  If you are struggling, then it may be time to overcome the discomfort of sharing your life details with a Therapist; remember, talking to a therapist is 100% confidential.  Help is available.  If you think you may benefit from Therapy, please contact us for a free 15-minute telephone consultation.  We are trained mental health professionals who are here to help you overcome your struggles and live your best life. Come on, your path to healing awaits!