The Succinct Shrink Answers:

Is therapy only for the mentally ill?

Reader question: Isn’t therapy only for people who are mentally ill?

The truth: Absolutely not!

• “How do I handle my difficult boss?”
• “I’m unsure if I want to have children and my family is pressuring me.”
• “I hate my job — how do I find a career that suits me better?”
• “My mother is terminally ill and I’m having trouble handling it.”
• “How do I learn to make better relationship choices?”
• “I’m having trouble sleeping at night and feeling worn out and I don’t know why.”
• “I want to understand my life purpose.”

These are the kinds of situations common to all of us and the reasons most people come to therapy. I categorize them as “life transitions,” “personal growth,” or “problems of adjustment.”

They are not major mental illnesses, though they can cause significant emotional distress.

Major mental illnesses are biological disorders of the brain. People with major mental illnesses like Schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders are actually less likely to seek therapy, since a core feature of their brain illness is that they don’t understand they need help and…