Should I Go To Therapy?
“You need therapy.”
It’s a common statement I’ve heard, often used as a joke, an indication that a person’s decision-making is a little “off” or that said person’s life might be pure chaos.
Although mental health has often been the butt of jokes, the overall impact of minimizing our emotional and cognitive wellbeing has led to a general distrust and misunderstanding of how helpful and beneficial therapy can be.
When the spark plugs on a car need changing, the owner takes it to a mechanic, and when parents are worried their child has the flu, they make calls to their pediatrician for assessment and treatment.
But for many reasons (some of which are completely valid), when it comes to our conflicting emotions, unhelpful thoughts, or poor decision making, people often opt not to seek the help of a therapist.
In fact, when confronted with the opportunity, many people are asking,
“Why Therapy?”
Why Should I Go To Therapy? Because Mental Health Treatment is a Natural Human Need
Believe it or not, therapy has existed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. While it didn’t include a couch, copays, or a notepad, the earliest forms of mental health treatment can be traced back to the days when our ancestors sat around a fire and discussed their worries or dreams and got feedback from other members of their tribe.
In fact, ancient Greek philosophers were among the first recorded to make the connection between poor mental health and the medical field, and investigated whether one could treat mental health issues as a medical condition.
Religious leaders and tribal elders served as sources of wisdom and were often consulted for their insight and advice. The need for some form of mental treatment isn’t new. Rather, humans have long seen benefits in improving mental health.
Mental health treatment, as the name says it, is part of our health. People who take care of their health live longer and enjoy better quality of life. So, why treat mental health treatment differently from any other health concerns?
Why Should I Go To Therapy? For A Helpful Supportive Relationship Just For You
People come to therapy for several different reasons. They may be searching for better coping skills, struggling to overcome addiction, or they may use their sessions to take apart hurtful past experiences and understand how those moments impact them currently.
But often overlooked is the simple notion that therapy is an intimate relationship built on trust and acceptance. Just like those tribe members sitting around a campfire, one of the greatest benefits of therapy is the nonjudgmental emotional support received during the process.
Therapy is a place where a person can be their most vulnerable self. It’s an opportunity to say aloud the things hidden within, whether they’re embarrassing, bring feelings of shame or guilt, or give voice to one’s deepest fears. But more importantly, being heard and understood, and knowing that one doesn’t move through life alone is great comfort.
While modern humans no longer sit around campfires to discuss their innermost selves, therapy remains a space dedicated to the process of examining and unburdening, knowing that constant support and acceptance are always present.
Why Should I Go To Therapy? To Better Understand Yourself
I often think of therapy as one brain helping another brain figure out how to get healthy. It’s an odd analogy, but consider it closely and it makes sense (kind of).
Cars don’t fix themselves and I don’t know too many people willing to perform their own open heart surgery. So why would anyone expect to single handedly fix their fear of flying or understand why they repeatedly date emotionally unavailable persons?
Whether it’s because of genetic predisposition or ugly life circumstances, many people move through life carrying thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that do them more harm than good, oftentimes unaware of their impact, distressed that these patterns repeat, and uncertain of how to change them.
Self awareness is a skill that requires practice. Undergoing therapy with a licensed professional provides an opportunity to better understand automatic assumptions, the feelings that accompany them, and unhelpful patterns of behavior that don’t bring satisfaction.
Why Should I Go To Therapy? For Positive Change and Personal Growth!
Therapy can be a place for positive changes! While one person may choose counseling as a means to dump and process their emotions, another person may benefit from learning new skills.
Therapy is a space dedicated to learning skills one may have never practiced, get feedback on how to better use them, and evaluate how those methods improve their overall quality of life.
This may range from getting comfortable with setting healthy boundaries, having better methods of navigating relationship conflict, to knowing how to identify personal symptoms of anxiety and employing techniques to better manage their overwhelming depression. With my clients I often notice that, as they progress in their counseling journey, they start building healthier relationships as a result as well.
Whatever one’s goal may be, the opportunities to grow into the best version of oneself abound.
Why Should I Go To Therapy? If You’re Struggling, Why Not?
Mental health needs have existed since the beginning of human history. Attending to our thoughts, feelings and behaviors shouldn’t be frowned upon or stigmatized.
Therapy can be a great place to receive much needed support and acceptance, learn better skills to improve quality of life. Most importantly, therapy can help us understand the parts that make up who we are, and how we can shift toward healthier decision-making that aligns best with our desires.
In fact, prioritizing our emotional needs is no different than scheduling a check up with the dentist (if you’re reading this and haven’t seen your dentist lately, please give them a call).
If this post got your interest around therapy going, feel free to check out my other post, “5 Things You Didn’t Know About Therapy.”
Most importantly, next time you’re shying away from improving your mental health, consider that you probably have less to lose and, in fact, may have much more to gain.
At LaunchPad Counseling, we help children and adults overcome barriers that keep them stuck, so that everyone can experience fulfilling relationships and a more positive outlook on life. We offer In-Person therapy in Richmond VA, and Online Counseling across Virginia. If we can be of help to you, please reach out!
