Thursday, June 6, 2013

To be or Not to be in therapy?



How do you decide if therapy would be helpful for you? When is it time to get help?

At Ganey Counseling and Consultation we encourage people to be proactive in taking care of themselves. So, if you are asking the question "do I need therapy?" it may be  time.

There are many reasons people seek out a counselor. Perhaps a better question than "do I need therapy?" may be "How can I work towards growth and how can I best take care of my well being?" Taking care of ourselves covers a lot of different areas as you may have seen in the post Being Healthy. We take a holistic view on health which means looking at our physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual health. Therapy can support you in working towards balancing all these areas.

There are clear signals therapy may be necessary in your own emotional and mental health. Having a mental health crisis or having been diagnosed with a mental health disorder is a clear sign. Mental Health concerns are serious and need special attention. In these situations reaching out for therapeutic help is like going to the ER in an emergency. It is more urgent. If you have recently been struggling with your mental health a counselor can guide you, give you information on how to stay safe, and how to best move forward.

Another sign is relational or emotional troubles. Maybe you are not in the midst of crisis, but are experiencing significant struggles. Examples would be behaviors or emotions that seem out of control or unlike you. Difficulties with a spouse or a child. Other times therapy may be helpful is after experiencing significant trauma such as a rape, natural disasters, or violence. When you find yourself stuck and unable to move past a problem, experience, or situation, therapy can help. When a close family member is diagnosis with significant medical problems or mental health issues you can find support through seeing someone who is knowledgeable about these problems and they act as your guide. In these situations going to therapy is like going to the doctor when you notice symptoms of illness.

Other times therapy may not be "necessary" but may be helpful would be after an expected death of a loved one or during difficult life transitions. Often at GCC we see clients who live successful and fulfilling lives, at some point they became aware something was "not quiet right". Others come in because they realized pieces in their past continue to impact them today. They want to experience healing and are unsure how to get there. These are examples of individuals being pro-active in their growth as they reach out for emotional care even though they are not in crisis. Self Care is like eating a regular, healthy, and nutritional diet. Adding therapy in these situations is like bringing on a nutritionist to help support you in understanding more about your own individual health needs.

This is not to say everyone should be in therapy and everyone should always be in therapy. It is to say you may benefit from therapy even though you have not been "diagnosed" or be experiencing significant struggles. "Life is a journey taken one step at a time"* and our next steps are not always clear.

If you are wondering if therapy may be helpful to you, set up a meeting with a local counselor and ask your questions. You can decide together how to move forward and hopefully they will be able to help you find clarity to your concerns.

Ask yourself new questions:

"What does it mean to be healthy in all areas of my life?"

and

"How do I get there?"





**Quote by Dr. Kevin Ganey

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