As the days grow longer and the sun shines a little brighter, something interesting tends to happen in my practice: it gets quieter. Therapists often refer to this as the “summer slump.” With vacations, school breaks, and a general lift in mood thanks to sunshine and more social time, people feel good. And when people feel good, they don’t always seek therapy. I totally get it. When life feels light and manageable, it might seem unnecessary to schedule that initial therapy consultation or start making your mental health a priority. But I’d like to offer an alternate perspective: Summer might actually be the best time to find a therapist.

This might be more of a rant than a blog post but I think it’s relevant and I’m not just doing it for me. I’m doing it for my profession and for all the amazing therapists out there—those that I know and those that I don’t—who show up each and every day to support complete strangers, get to know their most intimate and vulnerable stories, and provide unconditional positive regard.

Those might be some of the hardest words to say out loud. I know I’ve suffered through some incredibly difficult and even unimaginable moments simply because I avoided saying them: I need help. I’ve spent most of my life trying to prove that I’m capable, strong, and successful. And now, even working in a profession where helping others is literally my job, I still struggle to ask for or accept help myself. Even though I tell my clients it’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to accept help. So what the hell is so hard about being human and needing others? Let’s dig into it.

As a therapist, one of the most common emotions I see people experience is shame. The clients I work with who experience shame often describe it as feeling as though something is inherently wrong with them. Shame is a deeply powerful emotion that can shape how we see ourselves and interact with the world around us. But often, clients also struggle with guilt, another emotion that has a significant impact on our mental and emotional well-being.

To celebrate April as Counseling Awareness Month, I decided to share my favorite things about being a therapist. I have the unique privilege of walking with clients as they pursue their deeply personal journeys of self-exploration and growth.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m surrounded by chaos and noise, I become completely overwhelmed. A lot of times that’s physical noise, but I also get overwhelmed by the non-physical noise.

As a therapist who specializes in treating anxiety in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, I work with a wide range of clients. I see a lot of mothers who work outside the home in addition to managing their household. As one of these women, I can attest to the exhausting nature of mental load. No one understands quite like us what that means. With the mental load often comes a ton of guilt.

Conflict happens in all relationships—whether that’s with your partner, bestie, or mom. It’s hard to know how to respond to conflict. Some of us hide in the corner at the mere mention of confrontation and some of us grab the boxing gloves and get right in that ring. No matter which conflict style you use, most of the time there’s room for improvement.

It’s hard as a therapist to hear that therapy doesn’t work for some people. Of course my hope is that it works for all people! I think it’s important to examine some of the reasons therapy doesn’t work. Here are some of the common pitfalls I hear from folks.

Imagine this: you’ve just spent 2 weeks pretending like the world was on pause. You ate what you wanted, drank what you wanted, threw caution to the wind when it comes to working out/fitness goals, and you emerge from this hazy holiday joy (or dread depending on how you view it)…and now you’re expected to eat salads, workout 5 times a week, do all the healthy coping you can imagine during the deadass cold of winter and darkest time of the year!? Come on. That’s a recipe for disaster for anyone. And for those of us who struggle with high expectations for ourselves, it’s a recipe for lots of negative self-talk to ring in the new year. I encourage you to do something different this year.