When you need psychotherapy. I recently heard the opinion of a well-known and respected psychotherapist that, in general, literally everyone needs psychotherapy. I agree that I would definitely use at least half of it, and some of it is actually needed, even to the point of being “necessary.” This is where we actually stopped our conversation. If you are trying to decide whether you need it, I offer a short overview of those very conditions when psychotherapy is more “necessary” than “wouldn’t hurt.” Of course, even then you can do without it. However, living in a state of such suffering prevents both enjoying life and developing, achieving goals and finding meanings other than fighting one’s chronic psychological discomfort. Drug therapy provides improvement only while taking the drug (because the internal causes of the condition itself remain unchanged) and as the drug is used, its effectiveness decreases due to the addictive effect. So, psychotherapy is definitely indicated when discomfort from uncertainty, anxiety, and fear prevents you from coping with normal activities, especially. When these feelings grow, they consume time and energy, and begin to determine the way of life. With similar failures in building relationships with a partner or other people. In a state of grief, loss that one cannot cope with, especially in the case of a prolonged feeling of grief. When you feel that the feelings that arise are becoming beyond your control. Depressed and lacking the need to live. Fears, phobias. A separate point - for panic attacks. With obsessive thoughts and repetition of obsessive actions. In case of other psychological discomforts that cannot be overcome with available resources, or when they return again and again. In general, psychotherapy, in parallel with drug treatment, is also indicated for conditions where complaints do not correspond to symptoms, i.e. There is no critical attitude towards one’s own condition. But this is a separate deep topic not for development in this short note. And finally, it is very important that psychotherapy can really help (and does help, provided it is carried out well and the person strives to change his difficult situation) when something in life constantly does not work out in the same way. In general, the above points also fall under this - they are also a kind of discomfort that arises where they should not exist and is repeated. In all these cases, the cause is a painful past experience, often repressed or simply unconscious, which needs to be worked through in order to stop falling into the same traps of its “supposed completion,” to go further in its development and begin to live a more fulfilling and happy life. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to independently work through traumatic experiences, always received in a relationship with another person (this is an axiom known to specialists), or associated with relationships with other people. Even with the help of very good specialized literature. You can get rid of the baggage of psychological problems in the same way they were acquired at one time - through relationships. This is exactly what a qualified psychologist can help with - helping to get out of the circle of psychological discomfort by building specific complex relationships with a person that will become healing for the person who applies. You can read how this happens in the article “How Psychotherapy Works.” To help you choose a specialist, you can also read several of my articles on choosing a psychologist/psychotherapist.