Proactive Therapy 

Therapy is often presented as this reactive treatment option when things have gone wrong. A response to chaos, to stress, to burnout. A remedy to the pains of life. 

But what if we used therapy differently? What if we considered therapy as a means to maintain our mental well-being and develop insight into our overall functioning?

Consider this: it is rarely advised that you leave your car without any regular maintenance or upkeep, and just wait for a massive breakdown before seeking professional help to fix it. Usually, this approach leads to greater disruption and more financial burden than would have occurred had the regular maintenance and upkeep been prioritized. When we engage in regular maintenance of the car, we reduce the risk of unexpected (and costly or inconvenient) breakdowns. 

Proactive therapy, as we term it here, is like the routine maintenance of your car. It is the act of seeking therapy while things are seemingly neutral (or even positive) as a means to maintain healthy mental wellbeing, gain insight, and weather potential upcoming events or life changes. 

So let’s explore some examples of when proactively seeking therapy might be beneficial for you: 

• When facing big life changes (yep, even the good ones!). A wedding, a new career or an exciting promotion, relocating to a new city, having a baby or expanding your family in some way! There are many ways our lives change, and when this happens, it never hurts to process what the change means for you and the road ahead. 

• When working or volunteering in a field with risk of burnout or mental strain (including post-traumatic stress!). Although you may have an incredible toolbox of strategies for managing stress, it’s immensely valuable to think about what lead you to the profession to begin with, and how you plan to protect yourself through the duration of your career. What boundaries do you have in place to protect yourself? What are your biggest triggers and why? What makes you most susceptible to mental strain (and conversely, what’s protecting you!)? 

• When a known trigger is looming. An anniversary date, a difficult holiday, an exam period or a quickly approaching work deadline. You likely have an incredible skillset to manage these big moments (you’ve done it your whole life!). But it never hurts to run through what you’re feeling and make an action plan for how you’ll face the natural challenges of life as they come your way. 

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of who may benefit from proactive therapy. Truly, no matter who you are, there may be argument that a proactive therapy session or two could do wonders in maintaining your mental well-being, and preparing you to manage the highs and lows of life. By no means are we saying proactive therapy will eliminate the risk of mental struggle or burnout. What we are suggesting rather, is that investing in your health and well-being early could be the ultimate gift to your future self.