Reasons to seek help
The following are some of the most common reasons to seek psychotherapy:
1. Major life events such as an impending divorce or break-up, a financial crisis, serious health issues or accident, dealing with mid-life crisis, or aging concerns. Utilizing the services of a skilled impartial and non-judgmental professional can sometimes help individuals find new ways of communicating and resolving their difficulties that they had not previously considered.
2. Depression: If you find yourself struggling to get out of bed and feel that your life has no meaning or that the things that used to bring you joy now seem insignificant, it may be time to seek help.
3. Anxiety: Feeling nervous or panicky in social situations, fears or phobias, PTSD from traumatic experiences, and numerous other activities that create extreme stress often improve when an individual receives treatment from a qualified professional.
4. Anger: Today we face constant demands on our time from work and family. Many individuals feel unable to cope with the stress of everyday life and find themselves exploding in anger, often with the people they love the most. Learning healthier ways to communicate and cope with anger can be beneficial to not only the individual seeking help, but to their friends and family as well.
5. Family issues: With a divorce rate of around 50%, many couples find themselves dealing with the unique challenges of step children, sibling rivalry, custody battles, and financial concerns. Finding helpful ways to sort through these issues can sometimes mean having some or all family members involved in the therapy process in order to facilitate healing.
6. Parenting concerns: “Failure to launch” young adults; bullying or other problems at school; children who become anti-social and spend excessive periods of time playing video games, texting, tweeting or otherwise alienating themselves from their family and friends all are frequent reasons that mental health professionals see frustrated parents in their offices.
7. Addictions: Whether the problem is a common as a desire to quit smoking or as serious as a gambling, alcohol or drug addiction, this category is a very troubling issue that if left untreated can lead to broken marriages, job loss and serious health risk.
8. Grief and Loss: The loss of a spouse, child or other family member or a close friend can cause extreme distress and, if not resolved, can lead to depression. Joining a small support group can be helpful as is finding a therapist who can provide well thought-out suggestions for honoring the loss of a loved one and methods for coping.
9. Unhealthy eating habits: Many individuals struggle with their weight and sometimes find they are eating not from hunger, but as a way to cope with the stress of daily living. Still others, primarily young women, feel they are overweight when in fact, they are dangerously underweight. Feeling the need to exercise excessively, and utilizing extreme measures to avoid gaining weight, can lead to very serious health issues and even death. A therapist can literally be a life saver for these individuals.
10. Lack of self-worth: Poor self image and lack of assertiveness can cause an individual to become socially isolated, leading to difficulties in creating healthy relationships and being left behind in the work place. Learning how to accept that one has worth and value no matter how good or bad we are at some task can be extremely helpful and a psycho-therapeutic process would be an important step towards this goal.