How To Know If You Need Help
How do you know if you might benefit from help from a professional? What are the indicators to guide you in making a decision to make the call for an appointment?
Respond to the questions listed below. While most people will experience some of the following at sometime in their lives, we begin to be concerned when they continue for a long time or when they are extremely intense.
1. Change in your patience level.
a. Are you always irritable?
b. Are you always annoyed?
c. Are you always intolerant?
d. Are you always angry?
2. Numbness and isolation
a. Are you experiencing an ongoing sense of numbness?
b. Are you experiencing an ongoing sense of being isolated from yourself or from others? Do you usually feel that you have no one to talk to about what is happening?
3. Restlessness and busyness
a. Do you usually feel restless or in “high gear”?
b. Do you feel the need to be constantly busy beyond what is normal for you?
4. Fear of intimacy and closeness with others
a. Are you afraid of becoming close to new people?
b. Do you think being close will only bring you pain?
5. Harmful behaviors
a. Do you find yourself acting in any way that might prove harmful to you over time?
b. Are you drinking more than you used to, using more prescription or non-prescription drugs, engaging in sexual activity that is unsafe or unwise, driving in an unsafe or reckless manner, or are you considering serious thoughts of suicide?
6. Over responsibility
a. Are you taking too much responsibility for family member or close friends? That is feeling heavily burdened by it, feeling angry or like the situation is “suffocating” you, or feeling resentful that there is no one “here for me.”
7. Feeling like you are going crazy
a. Is there some aspect of what you are experiencing that make you wonder about whether you are normal or going crazy?
b. Do you fell stuck in some way, unable to move on?
Feel free to call me and I will be happy to discuss your concerns and help you make a decision about counseling. And remember, it is usually the counselor posing the questions. But when you are choosing a counselor you are entitled to ask almost anything. Because successful counseling depends on personal disclosure and how well you connect with me, it is important for you to be able to trust and feel at ease. So, ask.
Call (859) 351-5166 or see contact information below.