People change over time. Life moves us forward, whether we want it to or not. New experiences, relationships, losses, and responsibilities shape us, and often, we adjust without realizing it. But sometimes, growth doesn’t happen in a way that feels freeing. Sometimes, we don’t just move forward—we get stuck.

Therapy isn’t about changing for the sake of change. It’s not about fixing what’s broken. It’s about making space to notice where you are, what’s happening inside of you, and what wants to shift. It’s about giving yourself the kind of attention that allows something real to move.

So when is the right time to go to therapy? When does it actually help?

1. When Life Is Changing, and You’re Not Sure How to Keep Up

Some changes feel exciting. Some feel overwhelming. And some just make everything feel unfamiliar—like the ground underneath you isn’t quite steady. Moments like:

• Leaving home, starting a new job, or entering a new stage of adulthood

• Getting married, becoming a parent, or shifting relationship dynamics

• Hitting midlife and wondering, Is this it?

• Facing retirement or aging and feeling the weight of time differently

These are times when therapy can help you slow down and find yourself in the middle of change, rather than just reacting to it.

2. When the Same Patterns Keep Showing Up

Ever find yourself in a different situation but feeling the exact same way? New job, same burnout. New relationship, same fight. Different year, same sense of not being enough.

Therapy isn’t about making those patterns disappear overnight, but about seeing them clearly enough that something new becomes possible—not by force, but by understanding what’s actually happening underneath.

3. When You’ve Been Through Something That Feels Too Big to Hold Alone

Grief. Trauma. The kind of loss that rearranges the inside of you. Sometimes time softens those edges, but sometimes, it just buries them. Therapy creates space to let the weight of those experiences move instead of settling into you.

4. When Life Feels ‘Fine’ But You Feel Disconnected

Maybe there’s no crisis. No major problem. Just a sense that something isn’t landing. That life is happening, but you’re not really in it. That something deeper wants to come alive, but you don’t know how to get there.

Therapy can be a place to explore that—not to manufacture meaning, but to notice where it already exists and where you’ve lost touch with it.

5. When Growth Feels Too Hard to Do Alone

Some people can process their lives internally, and it works. Others need reflection. Witnessing. A space where someone can see them in a way they struggle to see themselves.

Therapy isn’t about being told what to do—it’s about being given enough space to recognize what’s already happening inside of you. And sometimes, that makes all the difference.

When You’re Ready, Therapy Is Here

There’s no perfect time to start therapy. No rule that says you must go. But if something in you knows there’s more—more to understand, more to untangle, more life to feel—it might be time to step into that space. Not because you need to be fixed. But because you deserve to feel yourself fully alive.

Embracing Shadows, Illuminating Hope,
Chelsey Fjeldheim, LCSW
Empowering Souls on the Path of Healing

Copyright © 2025 Chelsey Fjeldheim, Courage Speaks Counseling