Who can benefit from Psychotherapy?

Generally psychotherapy is recommended whenever a person is grappling with a life, relationship or work issue or a specific mental health concern, and these issues or concerns are causing the individual a great deal of pain or upset for longer than a few days. There are exceptions to this general rule, but for the most part, there is no harm to go into therapy even if you're not entirely certain you would benefit from it. Millions of people visit a psychotherapist every year, and most research shows that people who do so benefit from the interaction. Most therapists will also be honest with you if they believe you won't benefit or in their opinion, don't need psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy is most successful when the individual enters therapy on his/her own and has a strong desire to change. If you don't want to change, change will be slow in coming. Change means altering those aspects of your life that aren't working for you any longer, or are contributing to your problems or ongoing issues. It is also best to keep an open mind while in psychotherapy, and be willing to try out new things that ordinarily you may not do. Psychotherapy is often about challenging one's existing set of beliefs and often, one's very self. It is most successful when a person is able and willing to try to do this in a safe and supportive environment.

BACK TO frequently asked questions page.