5 Signs You May Benefit from Seeing a Therapist
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It’s important to seek support for what matters most: your emotional well-being. Too often, we have a poor understanding of how to practice self-care, or we avoid it all together. And while self-care is something a mental health professional is likely to recommend to you, most agree that getting professional help from a licensed therapist should be a priority. Here are 5 signs you may benefit from seeing a therapist:
- Past trauma
When you’re dealing with post-traumatic stress, it can be difficult to navigate the here-and-now, making it hard for you to be fully present in your family, work, and social life. Most often, the people around us, our loved ones, are also affected.
The constant struggle with the anxiety and depression that accompany the memory of traumatic events can lead you to feel hopeless and uncertain of how to cope. This often results in sleeplessness, lack of interest in activities that were once fun or exciting, and constant worry or fear that the trauma or something familiar is your fate. Exploring the hurt isn’t easy, but with support and experienced clinical insight, you can get on the path to feeling more managed in symptoms, and ultimately feeling improved in response to the trauma itself.
- Issues related to lifecycle
Let’s face it, life brings about changes — some planned, some unwanted. Throughout life, there are issues that everyone faces, sometimes shared and sometimes individually. These issues are most often related to family transitions, divorce, adapting to a new job, or moving to a new geographical area. For a teen, it may be adjusting to college life and being away from home for the first time. Each of these experiences brings on emotions that are unfamiliar, prompted by the newness of your circumstances or surroundings and by the need for adjustment.
We’re not always able to manage the emotional side of change. If you’re struggling with it, you’re not alone. Many people find it difficult to adequately navigate through the stress that change brings. But meeting the demands of a changing career, living situation, or family doesn’t have to be problematic. Therapy can help you identify strengths leading to a more positive and successful adjustment.
- Family relational issues
In relationships — whether family, parent-child, romantic partnerships, or marriage — there are sometimes obstacles to navigate in the pursuit of happiness. Therapy can help you explore those issues that bring about difficulties in your family and relationships. An unbiased approach to communication and healthy interventions can be just what the doctor ordered.
- Feeling anxious or depressed
Are you feeling like you’re not quite you? Are you sad for no obvious reason, or just feeling anxious about most things or a specific thing? An experienced, licensed psychotherapist can help identify triggers for your anxiety or offer insights if you have symptoms of depression. Attempting to manage symptoms and behaviors on your own can be difficult, and in some cases, harmful. If you’re not feeling like yourself, talk to a therapist.
- Emotional overload or reaction to stress
Stress, oh my! We are certainly no strangers to stress and anxiety in today’s world. The stress of job obligations, the pandemic, the never-ending lists, feeling like you are doer of all things — that’s a lot to handle. If what was once manageable now seems overwhelming, if you no longer find enjoyment in the usual tasks or the list now feels like controlled chaos (or the opposite), talk to a therapist. Emotional overload can happen quickly, turning into anxiety about performance, and may affect your self-esteem. With a therapist, you can explore reasonable expectations of self and healthy means for managing stress.
These are just 5 signs that you should consider getting professional support from a licensed therapist. But they’re not the only signs. There are many more reasons to seek therapy and more ways you can benefit. Therapists have training and expertise in various specialties, and many are online and available through telehealth. Clinical care and support is a computer click or phone call away!