Seeing a counselor is gaining ground as a positive step toward improving one’s life. Gone are the days when you had to talk about seeing a therapist or counselor in whispers. These days, counseling is considered an important source of help when things are not going right in your life.

Therapy is perceived as a positive influence in anyone’s life because it works. Whether you are in the midst of a crisis or just wishing to stay proactive and in control of your life, counseling is for you, just as it is for everyone—children, teens, adults, couples, elderly people, and families.

Ten of the most common reasons to see a counselor are:

1. Life-disrupting emotional conditions. Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, etc. can significantly impact your (or a loved one’s) life, wreaking havoc on your (or their) functionality in ways beyond your imagination. These conditions can damage your relationships with family, friends, fellow workers, and classmates.

A counselor can help a person weighed down by symptoms of an emotional condition through the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of said symptoms. They can also assist you and your family in resolving issues stemming from the condition.

2. Marital/relational issues or lack of relationships. Ryan Howes, PhD, of Psychology Today says, “For most people, relationships are the main thing, and if they’re going sour, life goes sour.” In his 20 years of practice, he says, “every single client … sought therapy because of a relational problem or their biological or otherwise internal issues were impacted by their relationships.” Since relationships are the “main thing” in people’s lives, not having relationships can make a person extremely lonely and vulnerable to negative feelings and thoughts.

A counselor can provide a neutral ground for couples to talk and discuss their issues. They can also help couples reinforce their relationship to weather the storms that may come their way.

3. Loss and complicated grief. Though loss is inevitable, most people don’t dwell on it or prepare for it. Thus, the loss of someone or something extremely valued can devastate anyone, especially when it happens abruptly. Recovering from grief is natural, but it can be extremely overwhelming when the process is too slow or the grief gets worse.

Complicated grief can make you vulnerable to depression, and traumatic experiences can make you extremely anxious. Counseling can be an effective intervention in facilitating healing from grief and preventing it from slipping into something worse.

4. Child and teen issues. For most parents, their children take center stage in their lives. When their children start to manifest unusual behaviors, they get worried. When changes in children’s lives are impacting them in a negative way, parents are just as affected, fearing that their children’s life, health, and future are all at stake.

Counselors are capable of not only assessing a child’s symptoms and diagnosing their condition, but also providing treatments and ways to help them recover, uplift their self-esteem, and become resilient and positive.

5. Addiction in the family. Abuse of or dependence on a substance can do significant damage to a person’s brain and mental processes. It can affect their decision-making ability, social or interactive skills, behaviors, and responses to life situations. Addiction can wreak havoc on the person and their whole family.

Aside from addressing the escalating issues in the life of a family member with addiction, counseling can also help the family resolve addiction-related concerns. Counseling is also an important aspect of “aftercare,” the care that a person gets after rehabilitation to overcome relapse.

6. Low self-esteem. Poor self-image can dramatically limit a person’s growth personally and academically/professionally because it can deter them from making the most of their potential. Thus, low self-esteem can stand between you and your aspirations or goals. It is usually related to negative thoughts, damaging relationships, and unresolved issues.

A counselor can help you trace the roots of your low self-esteem, sort out and resolve past issues that continue to haunt you, and discover ways to improve your self-esteem and accept yourself.

7. Overwhelming and intense emotions. Life situations, feelings, and thoughts can build up to overwhelm you. Many issues and events happening all at once can make you lose focus or feel crushed, so that all you want is to quit and hide from everyone and everything. Intense emotions, suffering a trauma, getting bad work feedback, being frustrated at school or work, etc. can overpower you.

A counselor can help you sort out these things that are overwhelming you and resolve them one at a time. They can help you better understand yourself, your feelings, and your thoughts to restore balance in your life.

8. Increasing self-awareness. Not everyone who sees a counselor is gripped with negativity or weighed down by symptoms of an emotional condition. Seeking counseling is a proactive decision. It is a positive and empowering experience that can help you get to know yourself better.

Counseling can help you understand your feelings and behavior. It can improve your resilience and help you develop the ability to stay positive regardless of whatever challenges may fall into your lap. If you are overwhelmed, improving your self-awareness can make you empowered.

9. Greater life balance. Often, people experiencing an imbalance in their life are also living with difficulties and conflicts with the people around them. An imbalance results when you pay lopsided attention to the different elements of your life. As you are swamped with more obligations at work, you may neglect your personal relationships. Similarly, if you are having marital or parenting issues, you may not perform your best at work or school.

Perhaps the ultimate value of counseling is attaining improved balance and harmony in your life. The positive impact of counseling can trickle down to the people you constantly interact with—your loved ones, your fellow workers or classmates, etc.—as you achieve a positive persona.

Why seek counseling? These are some of the top reasons, but there are other reasons to seek the help of a capable counselor independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services – Pittsboro, NC. Remember, seeing a counselor is a positive thing, whether you have an emotional condition or you just want to be proactive. Call us; let’s talk about how we can help you or a loved one.