If your teeth are hurting, go see a dentist. If you can’t see very well, go see an eye doctor. Hopefully we know some of the reasons why we might visit medical professionals, but how much thought do we put into recognizing the signs that we need to visit a mental health professional? But before I lay out a simple answer to when you should go see a therapist, we need to think about some different perspectives on mental health care.
How did you feel about my very first sentence? I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to the dentist when my teeth are hurting. I try to go before my teeth start hurting to get a cleaning. In the medical community preventative care has shaped the idea of when you might think of visiting a doctor. In a similar way, how we think about mental health, the role of therapy, and what our lives ought to look like are going to shape when we visit a therapist. I hope you find this podcast informative and thought provoking as I take several important detours in order to answer the question: When should I go see a therapist?