Why Therapy?

	When you feel like you can't do it alone...
	When you feel trapped, like there's nowhere to turn...
	When you worry all the time, and never seem to find the answers...
	When the way you feel affects your sleep, your eating habits, your job...
	When the way you feel affects your relationships, your everyday life...
	When it's just not getting any better...

Sometimes you need to talk to someone. Someone who can help.

An experienced, trained therapist can be that someone.

What is Therapy?

Psychotherapy, also called therapy or counseling, is a partnership between an individual and a therapist such as a psychologist or licensed clinical social worker. These professionals are licensed and trained to help people understand their feelings and assist them with changing their behavior. Therapy works by helping you objectively look at behaviors, feelings and thoughts in situations that you find problematic. It helps you to learn more effective ways in dealing with those situations. Progress, and change, can happen.

How do if know if I should consider therapy?

First of all, recognize that you are not alone. Nearly 25 percent of the adult population suffers at some point from depression or anxiety. Millions of them have found relief from depression and other emotional difficulties through psychotherapy. People often consider therapy when

	They feel an overwhelming and prolonged sense of sadness and helplessness, and they lack hope in their lives.
	Their emotional difficulties make it hard for them to function from day to day. For example, they are unable to concentrate on assignments and their job performance suffers as a result.
	They are troubled by emotional difficulties facing family members or close friends.
	They continually find themselves repeating the same behavior over and over with the same disappointing or unhealthy results.

Psychotherapy really can work

Commonly, people find that when they are in crisis it helps to have a neutral party help them sort out the situation. Most people who have at least several sessions of psychotherapy are far better off than untreated individuals with emotional difficulties. Indeed, nine out of ten Americans surveyed by Consumer Reports said that psychotherapy had helped them. And in another recent major national study, half of the patients studied were making improvement after eight sessions of therapy; 75 percent after six months of therapy.

Research suggests that therapy effectively decreases patients' depression and anxiety and related symptoms -- such as pain, fatigue and nausea. Emotional and physical health are very closely linked and thus therapy can improve a person's overall health status.

In general, counseling or psychotherapy can be a place to turn when you need to find practical solutions to practical problems. The difficulties some people bring to counseling or psychotherapy are not about finding practical solutions, but are about understanding the internal motives or motivations behind their behavior.

In Summary . . .

Psychotherapy isn't easy. But patients who are willing to work in close partnership with their therapist often find relief from their emotional distress and begin to lead more productive and fulfilling lives.