Counseling, when is the right time?
When is it the right time to seek counseling?
Counseling services are designed for anyone who needs help to get through their daily life, who seek comfort, in a confidential atmosphere to speak on some of the following but not limited to;
- adjusting to college life (roommate issues, time management and study skills)
- adjusting to life after college (What’s next? Career issues)
- relationship troubles with family, friends, or romantic partners
- difficulties arising from ethnic, cultural, and racial differences
- alcohol and other drug issues
- LGBTQIA+ issues
- food and nutrition, body image
- sexual assault/harassments/relationship violence/stalking
- stress: stressful academic and/or social pressures
- troublesome feelings such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, shyness, fear, and anger
- taking care of ourselves and building community, response to tragedy, building vs. dividing community, helping others, taking care of self
- loss of a loved one or other bereavement including loss by suicide
- same day emergency/crisis situations (self-injury, suicidal thoughts/behaviors)
When is the right time to seek help?
Everyone is different, we are all built with different designs of emotions and that’s what makes us unique.
While counseling might be helpful in numerous situations, there are some conditions that are strongly encourage for you to seek counseling services:
- You are unhappy on most days or feel a sense of hopelessness
- You worry excessively or are constantly on edge
- You are unable to concentrate on your schoolwork or other activities
- You are unable to sleep at night or constantly feel tired
- You have experienced a change in your appetite or your weight
- You have experienced a loss (e.g., a relationship breakup, a parent’s death)
- You have increased your use of alcohol or other drugs (including cigarettes)
- You feel overwhelmed by what is going on in your life
- You are having thoughts about hurting yourself or someone else
How to address that one might need counseling?
Be sensitive to yourself and others. Counseling can be a touchy subject, use discretion and knowledge.
Nobody likes to feel that they’ve been talked about behind their back, and a depressed person can be more sensitive than usual.
Feeling ganged up on can leave them feeling overwhelmed and even more misunderstood then they already do.
They might end up pushing away even your support, let alone that of a therapist. So if there are more than one of you with concerns, talk to the person in question separately.
Take the conversation seriously. Don’t try to casually drop your suggestion if they see a counselor in a random conversation.
Telling someone they need to seek help is a serious thing and deserves a serious conversation.
Acting off-hand about it will likely make the other person suspicious or could even make them think you don’t take their condition seriously, giving them the exact opposite impression than you are hoping for.
Go ahead and tell them you need to make the time to have an important conversation. It is, after all, something you want them to take seriously.
And ultimately, leave it up to them to decide.
No matter how much you love and care for someone, you cannot lead their life for them.
If they don’t want to go to therapy right now, trying to force them to can just mean they’ll never want to go or that they push you away, which can mean making their support system smaller when they need it most.
Share how you are feeling as openly, honestly, and kindly as possible, and know that they will use the information you have shared with them when they are ready.
Then gather up all your patience and leave them to make the choice for themselves.
SUPPORT is what we all need <3
This post was written by Lauren K., and published by Convenient Counseling Services.
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