Sponsored by Pinnacle Pointe Behavioral Healthcare System

 

Working through difficulties is not something that should be handled alone. While we often want to handle things ourselves or keep from burdening others, it can be helpful to talk to someone else who can guide us through these problems or issues.

 

Talking to a therapist can yield greater insights into yourself and your unique challenges. However, there is frequently a stigma against talking to these professionals.

 

According to Lauren English, a licensed professional counselor and business development representative with Pinnacle Pointe Behavioral Healthcare, it can sometimes be difficult to know when to ask for help and to talk to a therapist.

 

“Throughout your life, maybe you have wrestled with this question back-and-forth, maybe you have thought about seeing a therapist at one point or another. Perhaps you talked yourself out of it or convinced yourself that if you just wait a little bit the problem might go away. Or maybe you’re still questioning if you should see a therapist and you’re not sure if it’s a priority right now or not,” she says.

For English, there are certain signs that you can recognize that indicate when you need to talk to a therapist.

 

“Sometimes it can be a little challenging to identify when it’s time and how to recognize when it is that time in your life that you need to take the risk of being vulnerable and letting someone in what’s going on with you,” English says.

 

Here are three reasons to talk to a therapist.

 

  1. To Help You Manage Stress

We all face stress and stressful situations, but sometimes it can become too intense. A therapist can help you manage it, teaching you management techniques and assist you in problem solving. “Life is challenging, and there’s always something that will come up that’s stressful or will create a challenge in your life. It’s possible that at this point in your life, you’re not dealing with the challenges in the most effective way. And a therapist can really help you navigate your feelings and provide you with tools to manage how you’re feeling,” English says.

  1. To Help You Regulate Emotions

Negative emotions are bound to crop up from time to time. When you’re stressed out, those emotions can become overwhelming. “A therapist can help you to discover specific anger management techniques that could work for you and they can also help you practice anxiety reduction to help you feel better faster. No matter what emotions you’re struggling with, a therapist can help you develop a plan to ensure your emotion serve you well rather than work against you,” English says.

  1. To Address Unhealthy Coping Behaviors

When you get stressed, do you smoke more? Do you start drinking heavily? If so, you might need to talk with a therapist. Therapists can help you address these behaviors and face your problems head-on. “Maybe you’re just struggling to reach your goals, and you’re just needing to talk to somebody about ways to better reach the goals that you’ve set for yourself. Maybe you’ve got a history of self-sabotaging. Maybe you’re a perfectionist that kind of makes things harder on yourself than you should. All of these things can make a goal seem impossible, but a therapist can help you change the way you think about it so you can reach your goal in a more effective way,” she says.