Everyone goes through times when they feel discouraged, overwhelmed, and uncertain. Or, times when they are struggling in important relationships – whether with parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, or partners. Therapy can help by allowing you the space to explore the source of the struggle(s)…to heal…to feel encouraged, to take action, and build hope about what’s possible for the future.

Reasons for Therapy

While mental and emotional health should be considered on par with taking care of one’s physical health, these critical needs are commonly overlooked and neglected. Exploring where we are stuck and addressing issues proactively is no doubt challenging work. As a therapist, it has been really wonderful to see that we are experiencing an exciting cultural shift as the stigma of therapy is reduced and more and more people pursue therapy and experience the many benefits. 

Healthy Relationships & Optimal Health

While many people can acknowledge that the quality of life is greatly influenced by the quality of our relationships, individuals often struggle alone for many years before seeking professional help. It is especially typical for couples to allow conflicts to worsen significantly before seeking the appropriate treatment. In fact, relationship research completed at the Gottman Institute shows that most couples wait on average, seven years from the onset of a problem before reaching out. So it’s a great idea to address issues as they present in life and not let them worsen significantly.

Often, we know something is off with how we are going about life and we know we want it to feel better, but we just haven’t considered therapy as an option – maybe we aren’t that familiar with it, or it just seems out of reach in some way. Often, people find they come to therapy when it simply doesn’t feel like an option not to. Usually, there is some sort of incident or experience that happened that finally triggers the action of actually calling and making an appointment. 

Emotional Health & Wellness is Rooted in Our Ability to Connect…

Meaningful connection to others is a key component of a happy life. However, we can all agree that life and relationships are messy at times. We know that despite being digitally connected to many people, loneliness is at an all time high in our current culture. A person can be quite accomplished in many aspects of life and simultaneously continue to struggle in other important areas including their relationships or ability to cope (in healthy ways) with life’s diverse challenges. Often, we can get into a damaging pattern of putting ourselves/ our needs last. 

Therapy is a safe space to discuss what’s really happening in your life. It naturally provides accountability so that abstract future goals can begin to take shape and action steps can be taken. It offers personalized support, guidance, and encouragement to help you design and implement a better plan for yourself moving forward. Many of my clients report a significant increase in clarity from therapy, or this feeling that what was keeping them stuck in some sort of struggle is somehow lifted. 

Therapy also provides the added benefit of more lasting results – so that the issues and frustrating moments that a person is currently experiencing can become much easier to handle and connection with others feels easier and less stressful.

Whether you are addressing relationship conflict or problematic patterns of anxiety or avoidance in relationships, dealing with destructive anger, developing healthier coping skills, or finding the courage to make a significant change in your life, therapy can help.

The Therapy Experience is Unique to Each Individual…

The therapy room is a special place. It’s where a person can feel free to share what’s really going on in their life without fear of judgement. It’s where healing happens and resilience is strengthened. I love being a therapist because I get to develop a very unique and special kind of healing relationship that ultimately enables my clients to live a happier, more fulfilling life.

Whether I’m working with an individual or a couple, the therapy room is a vibrant place. Sometimes there is an emphasis on creating major change over an extended period of time and other times, therapy is used more intensively on a short term basis (I often do this type of work in the form of my Modern Accelerated Programs.)

Relationship conflict, disconnection, frustration, and struggles around coping doesn’t have to stay problematic. With a desire to grow and a willingness to put in the effort, you can create a more fulfilling future. Many of my clients are adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who are dealing with relationship stressors, the process of dating and discovering what kind of relationships feel most fulfilling to them or are looking to enhance their ability to cope with stressful challenges and major life transitions in healthier ways.

Sometimes in looking more closely at their days, people realize that there are certain patterns that they are engaging in that really aren’t serving them or bringing them closer to the kind of life they most want to live.

Through therapy, we uncover the source of the struggles and work together to create healing, peace and fulfillment so that life feels easier.

If you know you want to go to therapy, but are struggling with the idea of how to make space during the work week for the recurring appointment, this article provides a lot of valuable and helpful information regarding how to approach work about taking an extended lunch (for therapy) or allowing you to leave work early for therapy. While each person’s situation is different in terms of the flexibility they have access to, it is helpful to be aware of possible barriers and how to address them. Since therapy requires a weekly time commitment, it’s helpful to plan ahead and be prepared to advocate for yourself should you need to use part of your work day (one day a week) for personal development.

If you’d like to get started in therapy, I would be happy to talk with you. I can be reached at 917.708.7088 to schedule a session. I look forward to having the opportunity to work with you!

Warmly,

Jennifer Uhrlass, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist