Counselling is unique in that you can go for whatever reason. Need someone to be in the room with you while doing homework for encouragement? Sure! Want to celebrate something in your life with your counsellor? Go for it! Need emotional support? Absolutely! What this means is that finding the right counsellor for you is important as the therapeutic alliance is perhaps the most influential factor in effective therapy
As a guide, the American Psychological Association offer these symptoms as signals for finding a mental health professional: feelings of hopelessness; deep and lasting depression; self-destructive behaviour, such as substance misuse; disruptive fears; sudden mood shifts; thoughts of suicide; complusive rituals, such as hand washing; sexual difficulties; hearing voices or seeing things that other do not experience. However, you do not need to be experiencing any of these to go to counselling.