Four Things to Consider if You’re Considering Therapy & Counseling

How do you know when you should finally make that first appointment with a mental health counselor?

Truth be told, most people could benefit from therapy during some stage of their life. And sometimes, it’s very obvious that help should be sought out.

But at other times, you’re perhaps feeling just a bit off (nothing too terribly severe or debilitating). All told, you’ve been managing to trudge along. You show up for work. You can engage with people as needed. You’re doing all that’s required of you. Yet, you don’t feel your best. You just can’t fully bounce back or snap out of it. There’s stuff bothering you. Maybe emotions are getting the best of you. Or you can’t seem to break negative behavior patterns.

You want change, but don’t know if it’s all quite serious enough to warrant going to a counselor. You might be struggling with food and your body. Perhaps you are facing anxiety. Or it could be some other chronic issue. It can be challenging to know if it’s finally time to reach out and get some support via counseling.

So what are some things you might want to consider if you’re thinking therapy could be helpful?

If you’re here reading this, it’s likely something isn’t right with your life.

You are looking for some answers and you know you’re not happy with where you’re at. You might not even fully understand what is causing your distress. Maybe you want to remove the overwhelming feelings you’ve been having. You don’t feel right and you want a solution.

It occurred to you already that you need help or otherwise you wouldn’t be sitting here now. That’s a good sign that therapy could be a good fit for you. A therapist can work cooperatively with you to figure out what’s causing upset in your life and can partner with you to develop a plan to make positive changes. If something feels off and you know life isn’t what you want it to be, it could be helpful to talk to a counselor about it.

You won’t ever feel like the time is right for therapy.

If you’re waiting around till it feels like the ideal time to reach out for help, you’ll likely be waiting for a really long time. And the longer you wait, the worse things can get. Particularly with an eating disorder, waiting will just allow the problem to grow and recovery usually becomes more challenging as more time passes. You are never going to wake up one day and feel super stoked and ready to go - that feeling won’t magically manifest. But the good news is that you don’t have to feel overly ready to get going. Just a little bit of a desire to reach out is all you need to get started. Continuing to procrastinate won’t help.

You don’t need to worry that you’re “not sick enough” to qualify for therapy

You do not have to be “very ill” to seek help. Wanting to improve yourself is sufficient. And that reason alone is why lots of individuals go to therapy. Many people participate in therapy simply because they find it valuable to talk things through with a neutral person - after all, your family and friends, while perhaps well-meaning, can’t be quite so impartial. Therapy can help you develop greater self-acceptance, can assist in making good things in your life become great, can help you navigate important life decisions, can help you learn to communicate better, can help you learn to express uncomfortable stuff, and it puts someone in your corner who has your back like maybe nobody else does.

In terms of eating disorder therapy, it’s easy to fall for the “I’m not sick enough” story and it can keep you from getting help for months if not years - even decades. You might think “I don’t binge enough.” Or “I weigh too much for this to be a problem anyone will want to help me with.” Perhaps you think “I don’t make myself sick after I eat” or “I still get my period so I don’t qualify for help.” Your eating disorder will tell you oh so many lies!

It’s not uncommon for people to believe that they must be woefully underweight, or throwing up all the time, and nearly on death’s door to be diagnosed with an eating disorder and to qualify for care. At some point in time the prevailing narrative became very warped and detached from what is actually true - essentially, the media has people falsely believing that you need to be a very emaciated, young white female who is starving herself or purging constantly in order to have an eating disorder. Nothing could be further from reality. Truth be told, there is no “eating disorder look.”

With an eating disorder, you can, in fact, be any age, any race, any weight. Actually, it’s far more common for individuals with an eating disorder to be of normal or above normal weight. And individuals can struggle over the entire span of life – there are 80-year-olds struggling with an eating disorder. An eating disorder can develop no matter your size or background or where you are in your life.

If food is causing any sort of distress for you, and if you are experiencing any level of discomfort with your body, you qualify for support. No matter how “minor” you might think your problem is. Notably, waiting till you look “sick enough” can result in a lot of negative consequences. The longer you wait, the more difficult it can be to stop. And eating disorders can severely impair your physical health. Again, the longer you delay seeking help, the greater the risk for damage. Also, you stand to lose more and more in your life as your eating disorder continues to demand your attention – for example, there will less and less space for work, family, and other relationships.

And whatever you’re dealing with has led you to this page - so yes, I know by that alone that you are looking for support and you meet every criteria for getting help simply by deciding you are dealing with something that is causing you upset in your life. If you reach out for help, I am her to provide that. You don’t have to jump through hoops to convince me of your need.

Please remember that if you feel you need support, then you deserve care. If any provider ever made you feel as if you did not qualify for help, for any reason, it’s okay to seek out an alternative treatment provider who will listen to you.

You worry you don’t have the time or energy to attend therapy sessions

But, think about this - do you have the time and energy to continue to struggle – and to possibly get worse?

Therapy typically requires just about an hour of your time each week. Investing in care could pay off in ways you perhaps cannot even imagine. You and your future are worth it.

Further, if you’re struggling to find the energy to get stuff done, that’s a sign that you, more than ever, need some support. Therapy could be a good first step toward regaining your stamina and well-being.

Don’t Keep Waiting

Don’t continue to wait to reach out for help. You’ll forever be able to come up with tons of reasons why you should keep putting it off. Stop overthinking and take the step to make a positive change in your life. Therapy is a way of taking care of yourself. It can help you increase your insight and change unhelpful patterns. Therapy can assist you in improving yourself and your life. The therapy room is ultimately a safe, non-judgmental space to express stress and intense emotions. It’s a place to get unbiased feedback and guidance.

If you need support, go ahead and set up a consult. Your future self will likely be very grateful that you did.