We all go through hard times, there is no avoiding the day to day stress that comes along with existing, it is part of the human condition. Most of us find a way to blow off steam in our hobbies, or venting to our friends, but a plurality of us need more than that. It is generally thought that attending therapy is a process that only people who have endured traumatic events or suffer from a serious mental illness go through, as the vast majority of people don't see a therapist throughout their entire lives. This, however, is not the case, and there is strong evidence that therapy can help anyone, not just those who need it the most.

There are many benefits to attending therapy, even if you do not currently have an extreme need to. According to Marian Margulies, PhD, the benefits of therapy last long after you stop attending sessions. Margulies states, "The positive gains continue and grow over time as though some of the work gets further consolidated after therapy stops. This makes sense to me because it suggests that we continue to use the reflective lens in thinking about, talking about and expressing feelings about our inner lives after we end treatment. The whole talking-with-the-therapist process gets internalized so that self-therapy picks up where the actual therapy leaves off." This is the single largest reason to attend therapy. As stated in the above quote, therapy does not just address specific problems, but equips you with the tools you need to help yourself in the future, even if you can no longer attend sessions. This means that you can become self sufficient in coping with nearly anything that happens to you, or at the very least learn new and better ways to cope than previously used methods. Additionally, Dr. Margulies says, "In my work with people in psychoanalytically oriented therapy, they come to see how they often make assumptions about what the other person intended. Then when they actually do a reality check by asking a friend what they were thinking when they said something, they are often surprised to hear they had a totally different take." Therapy will give you a different perspective on life and how those around you act. It is not uncommon to attribute motive to people when they do something that hurts or displeases you, or spending time guessing what others are thinking. Therapy can help alleviate some of these wonders by showing an outside perspective on how people work when regarding others, which often results in a drastically improved state of mind.

Mental health is especially important during formative, educational times in peoples' lives, such as college or high school. During my sophomore year of college I decided to attend therapy sessions to help deal with the massive amount of stress I was under regarding balancing my school workload and my relationship at the time. The results were almost immediate, and worked just as Dr. Margulies stated. I learned new ways to recognize when stress was affecting my personality, and new ways to help rid myself of that stress, as well as better communication skills to help resolve conflict with those in my life. It goes without saying that everyone is different, and people will react differently to therapy, but it can never hurt to try.

My university allows students to attend 12 sessions, usually once a week, for free and many colleges around the country have similar programs. Most insurance programs also offer similar or drastically reduced priced programs. Even if you feel perfectly normal, I implore everyone to look into their options and try to attend a therapy session at least once, as it only serves to help make us better people.