No, not everyone needs therapy and you don’t need therapy for every situation. Before deciding whether or not you need therapy, consider the following:

1. Bad things happen to all of us: death of a loved one, divorce, debt, breakups, abuse, transitions, etc. For less serious negative things in life, it may be enough to talk about it with friends or family.

However, if you find that you are emotionally stuck in a negative situation for much longer than seems healthy, it might be a good idea to explore therapy options. For example, it is normal to grieve, even for a long time, when one is grieving. However, the grievance can become pathological if time does not bring relief or acceptance of the death, or if the grievance is complicated by feelings of guilt. It may be time to seek help.

2. Sometimes the negative emotions surrounding an event are so strong and overwhelming that one seems unable to carry on with normal life or move on, or to see things objectively enough to deal with them. For example, a divorce can be so emotionally stressful that one is unable to deal with the practical problems surrounding the divorce. This could indicate the need for therapy.

3. If one meets the diagnosis of a psychiatric illness as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) or the ICD, one may need pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy, or both. It is recognized that these diagnoses signify a situation beyond the range of normal human experience and that help is required beyond normal human experience.

4. If a negative situation from the past still seems to play an important role in your current life and is influencing current emotional states as well as actions and thought patterns, it may be worth seeking help. This often happens, for example, if one was abused or neglected as a child or youth, has experienced a traumatic (life-threatening) event, etc. One may need professional help to deal with such situations.

5. If you find yourself in a situation where coping is required because there may be no solution, or when you can’t seem to find solutions to solvable problems, therapy may be a good option. For example, if one is suddenly diagnosed with a terminal illness, they may need to explore coping solutions that they cannot develop on their own. Help may be required.

In such situations, conversations with friends and family alone may not bring the necessary relief, because they may lack the professional skills to work through intense emotional states or to ask the difficult questions that elicit what we really think or feel, or to help us. . examine an alternative point of view.

In such situations, we may not be able to resolve it ourselves (as we may be used to) or resolve it privately.

It is as if we are lying on the ground, injured, and we cannot get up without help. Or, as if we were lost in a forest where we have never been before. It makes sense to accept a helping hand to get us back on our feet, until we can walk on our own. It makes sense to get a guide in the forest, until we reach a part of the forest that we recognize.