By Jen Liston, LMFT-C
Aside from the obvious major life crisis or a new mental health diagnosis (though those are great reasons to book a first session), there are plenty of other reasons someone might decide it’s time to look into therapy. Here are five you might not have considered.
1. Major Life Transitions
Sometimes life hands us big changes and shake-ups, and we’d love a little help navigating them, processing them, or finding some stability in spite of them. When we have a lot going on, it can feel like there’s no room to add one more thing. Yet, that may be the most helpful time to add therapy to your routine. Therapy can be one hour a week, or every other week, that is just for you: time to talk out loud about what’s going on, check in with yourself, and learn tools to help you handle whatever the next week brings.
You may also find therapy helpful after a transition has settled but you still feel in upheaval. Maybe the move has already happened or the baby has already arrived, but you still feel like you’re reeling. You haven’t slowed down, or you don’t feel like you’ve really processed the change. Therapy can support you through all kinds of transitions, big or small, whether that’s graduating college, starting a new marriage, or finding out you’re pregnant.
2. You Don’t Feel Like Yourself
Maybe you’ve been irritable, on edge, jumpy, or spacey. Maybe your sleep, appetite, or energy has shifted, or you’ve lost interest in things you usually enjoy. Maybe your loved ones have noticed that something feels off, but neither you nor they are quite sure why.
You don’t need to have the answer before you come in. Spending time with a therapist can help you get to the root of what your mind and body might be trying to tell you, and what they need from you right now.
3. Unhealthy Coping Habits
Maybe these habits are new, or maybe you’ve had them for years. You might be tired of biting your nails, notice your screen time is through the roof, or have been told by your doctor to cut back on stress eating. Maybe smoking feels like the only tool you have but you’re ready to stop, or maybe you feel like you don’t have any tools at all.
Most coping habits start because they help in some way, even if they’ve stopped serving you. Therapy is a judgment-free place to understand what a habit is doing for you and to build healthier coping strategies to replace it.
4. Personal Goals
Is this the year you promised yourself you’d work on your relationship or run that marathon? Therapy can help with both! Goals vary as much as the clients who walk through our doors. Therapy can help you build the focus and motivation to lock in for a race or figure out where you keep getting stuck. It can also teach you skills to improve communication in your relationship, or even in your workplace.
Therapy can be a meaningful experience to help you determine what you most value in life and to move you towards a life lived in alignment with those values. You don’t have to be struggling in a major way to benefit from therapy. Sometimes it’s simply the support you need to become who you want to be.
5. You Need a Safe Space to Talk
Maybe you’re tired of unsolicited advice from family and friends whenever you try to share. Maybe you just needed someone to listen, but instead you got a pile of fixes that don’t work for you. Maybe you confided in someone only to find out they weren’t a safe person to share with.
While we always encourage leaning on the trusted people in your life and looping them in on what’s going on, sometimes you need a trained professional to hear your story and offer presence without rushing to answers. Therapy is private and personal, a space to vent, process, and reflect. You’re speaking with someone who doesn’t know the rest of your social circle and who brings a fresh perspective from outside the situation.
If what you’d like to process is deeply sensitive or even traumatic, you’re sitting with someone trained to help you work through those memories and feelings while finding safety along the way. While one of our goals will always be to strengthen your support system and outside resources, the safety of the therapy room can be a great place to start talking.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need a crisis, a diagnosis, or a perfect explanation to start therapy. If something on this list sounded familiar, that’s reason enough to reach out. Therapy isn’t only for the hardest moments. It’s also for the in between ones: the transitions, the habits, the goals, and the days you just want to be heard.
Taking the first step can feel intimidating, and that’s completely normal. It takes a lot of courage to reach out and start the process. If you are ready to take that step and don’t know where to begin, I suggest reaching out to trusted friends and family members to see if they know of a therapist that has openings. However, if you are not comfortable with that route, then check out the therapist direction on Psychology Today where you can search and find therapists in your area.
