What are the signs you need therapy?
Written by the clinical team at The Lyceum Clinic. Clinically reviewed by Sanah Younis, Clinical Director, BABCP-accredited (no. 1000792). Published 28 October 2026. Last reviewed 28 October 2026.
The clearest sign is that something has started to shape your choices: you are avoiding places, people or tasks because of how they make you feel. Others are sleep that will not settle, worry that fills quiet moments, a mood that has lasted weeks, or a pattern you keep repeating. You do not need a diagnosis, a crisis or a polished explanation to make contact.
What people say on the first call
"Am I crazy?" "Is this actually bad enough to be here? Other people have it worse." Almost everyone arrives apologising for taking up a slot. The comparison with other people is itself a sign: the suffering has been normalised for so long that it no longer seems to count.
The most common mistake
Waiting until things completely break down, or a relationship is on the brink, before making the call. Therapy gets treated as the absolute last resort rather than as structural maintenance. People then tell us: "I've been dealing with this for ten or fifteen years." They normalised their suffering for a decade.
For more detail, read about how CBT works.
What they wish they had known
"I wish I knew that I didn't actually have to live like that. I thought that was just my personality." The anxiety, the self-criticism, the avoidance had been there so long they looked like character rather than a treatable pattern.
The practical signs
Avoiding things you used to do. Irritability that surprises you. Physical symptoms with no medical cause. Coping strategies that are starting to cost you. The same argument, the same job problem, the same relationship script, again. Any one of these is enough reason for a fifteen-minute call.
What the first call is for
Working out, together, whether a fuller assessment would help. It is not a commitment, and it is not a test of whether your difficulty is serious enough.