3 Signs it Might Be Time to Seek Counseling

“Maybe I should talk to someone?” and other signs it’s time to seek counseling 

It’s no surprise that life is hard. Different seasons of it can feel kinda like making your way through an airport weighed down with heavy baggage. Here are a few signs you could really benefit from a few sessions with a licensed professional counselor, to help lighten your load and get you on the path to healing and flourishing.

3 signs that indicate you need counseling

1. Level of Emotional Distress: whether it is sadness, stress, negative body image, grief, a traumatic event, or a strained relationship, increased levels of distress or feeling bad is a great time to seek counseling services. This distress can also show up in physical ways like an increase or decrease in sleep, increase or decrease in appetite, digestion difficulties, or bodily tension. It would be important to share with your counselor about the frequency and intensity of this distress.

2. Impact on Activity of Daily Living: if you sense your mental health impacting your focus, ability to accomplish tasks, or fragmenting your ability to be fully present, now is the time to seek counseling. A piece of almost all mental health challenges is their ability to disintegrate the mind. A major piece of the therapeutic process is integration and aiding the mind to run effectively and efficiently. 

3. Life stressors outnumber your support: when life stressors like work, family, finances, or life decisions are greater or more potent that one’s sense of community and connectedness, meeting with a counselor can prevent burnout or the development of a more severe mental health diagnosis. 

If you are experiencing one or more of these things, and it’s still difficult to pick up the phone, know that that is completely normal. There are barriers to seeking counseling for everyone. If you lack the words right now, feel free to borrow from me. “Hey, I’ve got a lot going on, and I’d like to talk with someone.” 

-Katherine Smith, MS