How do you know when to consult a therapist?

Symptoms arise as individual, couples, and families experience normal developmental stages, face special needs and problems, or confront unexpected crisis. Some signals to look for are:

• Continuous feelings of marital and family dissatisfaction
• Feelings of loneliness, isolation, moodiness, depression
• Problems with a child’s behaviour, school adjustments, or performance
• Emotional distress when talking about one’s life circumstances
• Sexually abused victims, spouses and families
• Family violence or intense anger and hostility
• Conflict with aged or disabled family members
• Burn-out related to workaholic behaviour
• Verbally abusive communications
• Unexpected physical injuries to spouse or children
• Drastic weight fluctuations and/or urregulr eating patterns
• Repeated employment difficulties, frequent job changes, difficulty with co-workers
• Physical symptoms that may have an emotional component
• Compulsive behaviours with alcohol, drugs or gambling
• Post traumatic stress syndrome
• Motor vehicle accident recovery