Ever wonder exactly what therapy is for? If you’ve never been, therapy can seem like a huge mystery. You might be asking yourself a few things:
– Are my problems “big enough” to go to therapy?
– Am I “crazy” if I go to therapy?
– Do I need to have a mental health diagnosis to go to therapy?
– What even IS therapy?
Here’s the thing: ANYONE can and does benefit from therapy, no matter how “big” or “small” your problems or emotions feel. It’s a form of self-care that can change your life for the better.
Here are 11 unexpected reasons to go to therapy.
Enhancing Personal Relationships
Therapy is an amazing tool to improve your communication skills. When you learn to communicate in a healthy way, it will positively impact all your relationships: romantic, familial, platonic, and professional. A therapist will teach you to express yourself clearly and create healthy boundaries.
Or, a therapist can empower you to navigate non-traditional relationships, such as ethical non-monogamy or polyamory. Your therapist will provide a space to navigate and explore these relationships’ unique challenges and dynamics.
To improve your relationship with yourself
If you struggle with low self-esteem or self-worth, you’re not alone. When you don’t truly love yourself, it can impact all aspects of your life. Therapy can help you identify and challenge negative self-beliefs, ultimately building your confidence.
A therapist can also teach you to practice self-compassion – which essentially means treating yourself with the same kindness you would give a friend or family member. By permitting yourself to be human and giving yourself grace, you can change your whole outlook on life.
Navigating Cultural and Identity Issues
Many people struggle with their identity – whether that means struggling to figure out who they truly are, learning to accept who they know they are, or both. For example, a therapist can help you explore your identity from a cultural perspective. You may choose to work with a therapist who is similar to you to help you dive into this and find a sense of belonging in your culture.
Or, if you’re feeling confused about your gender identity or sexual preferences, a therapist can help you dive into this, too. They provide a supportive, non-judgemental perspective as you face these identity challenges. In these cases, you might choose to work with an LGBTQ-affirming therapist.
Supporting Major Life Decisions
Making major life decisions can be extremely stressful, especially if you don’t have someone to help you out. Can’t decide what career path you should take? Unsure of your life’s purpose? Feeling lost? A therapist can help you to increase and enhance your decision-making skills.
A therapist with a non-biased perspective can help you clarify your goals and make informed decisions.
To deal with a recent life transition
Whether you’re coping with a major move, a divorce, or your kids moving out, life transitions can be tough to cope with. And it’s key to note that even good life changes can bring stress. Any of these changes – good or bad – can bring up mixed emotions: stress, sadness, uncertainty, loneliness, you name it.
A therapist can help you unpack all of these new emotions, gain new perspectives on the situation, and learn coping skills to get you through this transition stronger than you started.
Discovering Hidden Strengths
Sometimes, it takes an outside party to help us learn things about ourselves we never realized. A therapist can take you on a journey of self-exploration, helping you uncover talents and abilities you didn’t know you had. For example, maybe you have a knack for creative problem-solving. A therapist can help you acknowledge and harness this power in your daily life.
Plus, therapy can help you build an important strength: resilience. Resilience is key to bouncing back and moving forward, no matter what life throws at you. A therapist will help you develop coping skills and more to build your resilience.
Enhancing Sleep Quality
If you find yourself tossing and turning more often than not, therapy could be the answer. Many times, there’s a mental health reason behind sleep disorders like insomnia. A therapist can work with you to develop practical strategies you can use daily and night for better sleep, like improving your sleep hygiene and developing a relaxing nighttime routine.
There’s even a specific type of therapy for insomnia, called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), and there are therapists who specialize in this. Not to mention, if stress is a big contributing factor to your sleep problems, working on general stress reduction in therapy will positively impact your life, including your sleep.
Improving Digital Well-being
For better or worse, technology is a huge part of our lives today. Some people develop unhealthy relationships with technology, especially social media. Many end up with super-high screen time and digital addiction. Spending too much time on social media or using it the wrong way can result in negative mental health consequences. Therapy can help you have a healthy relationship with social media, understand its impact on you, and learn more positive ways to use it, such as by enhancing online interactions.
Boosting Workplace Productivity
Whether you’re experiencing serious burn-out or work-related stress, therapy can help you come up with practical solutions to cope.
If you’re burnt out, a therapist can help you identify how you got there and help you find a balance between productivity, self-care, and self-compassion. If you’re drowning in stress and anxiety, a therapist can teach you anxiety-relieving coping skills and help you develop a plan to approach your work in a healthier way. Or, if you’re in a new role or aiming for a leadership role, you can build the confidence to step into these positions with ease.
Enhancing Creativity
Creative blocks are no fun. Regardless if your career involves creativity or creative hobbies are a passion of yours, therapy can encourage you to overcome creative blocks. You can dive into life stressors or struggles that might be getting in the way of your creativity shining through.
Plus, therapy can also help boost artistic expression. You could even work with an art therapist. Art therapy helps you tap into your emotions and express them healthily in unique ways through art. Not to mention, studies have shown that art therapy can help with anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
Improving Physical Health and Addressing Physical Symptoms with Psychological Roots
There’s an undeniable link between the mind and the body, known as the mind-body connection. Often, our mental and physical health are closely related. Believe it or not, by addressing emotional and psychological factors in therapy, you may be able to reduce chronic pain or address other physical symptoms that have psychological roots or that worsen with stress, like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Therapy also plays a huge role in addressing psychosomatic disorders, which can cause otherwise unexplained medical symptoms, like aches and pains, headaches, or shortness of breath. Therapy can also help manage the distress that comes along with these symptoms.
How Do I Find a Therapist?
The potential benefits of therapy are truly endless. From improving your relationships to boosting your self-esteem to navigating life transitions and beyond, therapy can change your life.
So, are you ready to find a therapist? Grow Therapy makes the process simple and stress-free. Find a therapist who meets your unique needs and takes your insurance so you can take this transformative journey.
