Although I truly believe that everyone can benefit from therapy in some way, it’s not always the right thing for everyone!
From my personal experience, I truly think therapy is a “right place, right time” kind of thing, which may sound counterintuitive, but let me explain! In my first therapy session, when discussing my goals for therapy and what I wanted to speak about, I said to my therapist, “I probably should’ve come to therapy about 5 years ago”, and she simply replied, “that clearly wasn’t the right time, you’re here now and that’s all that matters”.
The urge to go to therapy will definitely present itself at the right time, and you’ll find yourself at a place in your life where you will definitely benefit from it. This is why I think therapy is a “right place, right time” situation! If you have been considering therapy for a while and now you find yourself reading this article, it’s probably time for you to find a therapist and book that first session!
On the other hand, if you know that you definitely don’t want to go to therapy and you can’t think of anything worse than speaking to a therapist right now, but you feel as if you should because someone is pushing you in that direction, therapy may not be for you right now and if you jump into it, you might not actually experience the benefits associated with doing so!
Therapy, although an absolute game-changer in my opinion, is hard work and therefore it requires a type of commitment from you - no, you don’t have to sign up to a specific number of sessions and commit with a “6-month plan”, but you do have to commit to being open, honest, and putting in the mental legwork. If you don’t go into therapy with an open mindset, although it could still be impactful, it’s going to be more difficult to actually experience the benefits of it.
The bottom line is, if you think therapy is right for you, go for it. Even if you think therapy is right for everyone and you want someone to go, don’t push it on others. If you don’t think therapy is right for you at the moment, that’s OK too.