Disclaimer: Information provided through Dochas Psychological Services blogs or vlogs are meant for educational purposes only. They are NOT medical or mental health advice. I (Kim Long) am a Registered Psychologist, but I am not your personal psychologist. This means the information is general and therefore NOT therapy. So… I make no promises about any results or outcomes. This holds true for any practitioner from Dochas who is posting on our channel or website.
Please seek medical assistance before acting on anything mentioned in the videos/blogs. The information provided is accurate and true to the best of my knowledge, but there may be omissions, errors, or mistakes. The content is absolutely not a substitute for professional advice nor does it reflect the opinions of the College of Alberta Psychologists, Psychologists’ Association of Alberta, or the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. Please, please, please consult with a professional before taking any sort of action!
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Script: Aside from those very obvious, catastrophic moments in our lives, it can be difficult to figure out if you actually need therapy. Let’s try to figure that out…
Hi, I’m Kim Long with DPS.
First, I have to admit a bias. I think everyone, no matter their circumstances, can benefit from therapy. We change the oil in our cars to maintain it, why don’t we take care of our brains?
But, my bias doesn’t matter. This is about you. So, there are a couple of key things to consider:
1) Have you been able to solve the problem on your own?
2) Has talking to friends or family helped?
If the response to these questions is no, then you can also consider what therapists use when diagnosing. There is a key phrase from the DSM (our diagnostic manual) that comes with almost every diagnosis. The problem has to cause “significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning”. Basically, this means it has to be messing up your life often (like weekly or daily) and interfering with your ability to live the life you want to live.
It also means that others might be more upset about what’s going on for you than you are. For example, you might not see gardening at midnight in the summer in your underwear while singing My Way at the top of your lungs as an issue, but your neighbors, family, and friends might be a little alarmed. Especially if this happens often and makes them withdraw from you, leading to isolation. This causes impairment in social functioning and within the family context.
Ok, extreme example aside, let’s look at what “distress” looks like. It can be:
1) You thinking about it most of the time (like several times a day or week)
2) Shame or wanting to hide what’s going on
3) Your quality of life is going down the tubes, like you aren’t interacting as much or people are avoiding you; you might be more sick than usual or more fatigued
Etc.
Basically, if your mind, body, or emotional state changes and can’t get back to what you consider normal or average for you (or others are commenting on it), it’s probably distress.
If you or someone you care about have been wondering if therapy is needed, I invite you to maybe write down the answers to the questions in this video: have you been able to solve it on your own and has talking with others helped AND does it cause distress on a weekly basis for you? If so, then a great place to start is a web search in your area. The Psychologists’ Association of Alberta has a referral network where you can enter in the area of the province you’re looking in and what type of issue you think it is and then it spits out a bunch of names for you. Also, talking with your doctor can be helpful too. Maybe the most effective way though is to ask your friends. They’ll tend to match you with someone that really suits you better than most.
Ok, that’s it. As always, take care of yourself!
