Surprising Things Therapy Can Help With

I’ve had many clients say to me, “I don't know if I’m doing therapy right.” 

Of course, my response to this is that there is no right or wrong way to do therapy, as long as you are walking away from it feeling a little bit better about a situation or like you are gaining something from it!

This also got me thinking that many people may worry that they are not using therapy for the “right” reasons. What we may think are the traditional reasons for seeking therapy include depression, anxiety, difficult life transitions, and other mental health issues such as personality disorders, OCD, PTSD, etc. But, this can be limiting and if you’ve ever considered therapy but refrained because you thought therapy wasn't the right treatment for you, hopefully this blog can help debunk those hesitations.

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Here are some examples of things that you may be surprised to learn therapy can help with:

1. Sleep Issues

Many people face sleep issues or insomnia. This can include having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or overall sleep deprivation. Talking to a therapist can provide a space where you can explore together the different factors that could be contributing to this. Therapy can provide strategies to manage any possible underlying issues, promoting relaxation and healthier sleep habits. Your therapist can talk to you about sleep hygiene, which could include looking at your pre-bedtime routine, social media use, your sleep routine, and daily habits that can be adjusted such as caffeine consumption and work life balance. 

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2. Chronic Health Issues

If you suffer from chronic illness, you are hopefully getting support from a physician and specialist who can help treat your symptoms. Chronic illness can often come with emotional burdens that can be difficult to navigate. The stress from experiencing chronic physical pain that causes limitations to living daily life and have a huge impact on your mental health. 

Therapy can serve as a supportive outlet, helping individuals cope with the anxiety, frustration, and depression that often accompany chronic illness. Many therapists can specialize in treating clients with chronic health issues which often means they have experience living with a chronic illness themselves or have someone close to them who lives with chronic illness. Having a separate space to treat the mental symptoms alongside the physical symptoms can help maximize treatment and validate the internal suffering that often accompanies chronic illness.

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3. Physical Injury Recovery

Physical injuries can also take a toll not just on the body but also on mental well-being. When we think of physical symptoms we often do not think about therapy being an appropriate treatment. Physical injuries can cause limitations that we are not used to, affecting our ability to live our daily life, our career, and our social lives. The feeling of being sidelined from physical activities can feel restricting and cause a significant emotional impact. Attending physical therapy, follow up appointments, and bed rest can be a daily routine that you may not be used to and can feel quite isolating. Talking to a therapist throughout treatment can help you cultivate a positive mindset throughout the negativity, manage frustrations, and develop coping skills throughout the healing journey for the surrounding impacts a physical injury can cause.

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4. Self-Awareness

Sometimes you may just want a space to explore your thoughts and identity. Lacking a clear identity can make it hard to know what we want or identify our emotions. A deeper understanding of oneself is a valuable outcome of therapy and can often be a result of treatment that is focused on other things, such as trauma, depression, or anxiety. But, if you’ve ever thought about attending therapy as a means to explore your identity and process your emotions about certain things, therapy could be exactly the space for that! 

As you explore your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors with a therapist, you can gain insights about yourself that you had not realized before. Increasing self-awareness can help you solidify your sense of self, identify your values, and feel more secure in yourself overall. We may not think of therapy as a space to simply get to know yourself, but this can be seen as the essence of therapy–exploring your thoughts and feelings and accepting them for what they are.

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5. Adjusting to a new culture 

If you are relocating to a new country or community, this can be a big life transition that is often exciting yet challenging. Feelings of being foreign, having to start over, and feeling isolated are some common symptoms that accompany cultural adjustments. Even if you are excited about this change, therapy can provide a space to process the changes as they occur and develop coping skills to help adapt to a new environment. 

Having a therapist who shares a similar cultural background as you can be beneficial as well. A culturally competent therapist allows you to share your thoughts freely without having to explain certain cultural nuances or perspectives associated with your culture. 

Whether you are new to a culture or have been integrated for several years, exploring cultural adjustments and differences is a welcome topic for therapy!

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6. Career Uncertainty

Some people often come to therapy feeling lost in their careers or dissatisfied but not sure where to go or what else to do. Whether you are experiencing dissatisfaction or contemplating a career change, a therapist can help you through this process using methods such as self-exploration and identification of values. There may be a myriad of reasons why we feel dissatisfied or confused about what we want in our careers and having a therapeutic space to explore such reasons can be extremely beneficial. By identifying your strengths, values, and passions, you can make informed decisions about your professional future.

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7. ADHD management

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) presents a plethora of unique challenges. Therapy can provide essential tools for managing ADHD symptoms such as helping you develop organizational skills and enhance self-regulation. It can also help you identify ways ADHD affects your daily life and what your symptoms even look like. Even if you are on medication and are checking in with a physician, many therapists can help you identify strategies and coping mechanisms to help with daily life. 

Sage Therapy has many clinicians who specialize in ADHD and we offer a group for Adults Diagnosed with ADHD. Look below under the Resources section for how to access these!

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8. Slowing down

With work, maintaining a social life, and upkeeping your personal goals, it can feel like your mind is running a million miles an hour. I often hear from clients that they appreciate therapy just because it’s a point in the week where they can just slow down and collect themselves. I always say everyone can benefit from therapy and it is because of this reason. Life can get hard and overwhelming. Scheduling one hour a week can make a world of a difference because for that one hour, you are checking in with yourself, processing events of the week, identifying your feelings, and just slowing down. If this sounds appealing to you, then you’ve got a reason to go to therapy! 

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Conclusion

Hopefully, these surprising reasons for seeking help can be just a starting point to rethink the question of “What is therapy for?” As we challenge the stigma of therapy, we can open up the multitude of benefits therapy provides for all types of people in all stages of life. Remember that you don’t need to qualify yourself for therapy!

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Resources:

• This link on PsychologyToday expands the topics and specialties that therapists on the directory provide: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics
• Sage Therapy Therapists link: https://www.sagetherapy.com/find-a-therapistsome text
  • After clicking the state you are in, an easy way to search for specialities is to just word search the specialty you are searching for. 
• Check out our Services page for info on our available groups: https://www.sagetherapy.com/what-we-do/services
• Sage Therapy Intake email: support@sagetherapy.com. You can email our intake team to ask for any available therapist or to ask about a specialist.