During my years when I practised as a clinical psychologist, the range of reasons why people were referred or chose to get help was amazingly wide.
Affective (mood) disorders including unipolar and bipolar are very common. One person in five will experience a major depressive episode in their lifetime.
Anxiety-based disorders is another type of problem where people feel unable to do something or are unable to stop doing some behaviour as in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Some have formal thought disorders (e.g. schizophrenia) and may be on medication but still require help and support to function in their life.
Substance abuse disorders are another reason why someone might come to see a therapist.
Family or couple based relationship problems is another diverse category of referral reasons.
People who are suffering or have been the victim of child sexual or physical abuse often come to see a therapist.
Someone having difficulty making major decisions about higher education and career choice may see a psychologist to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to better understand their personal style of working.
I’ve worked with couples where one or both partners have psychological problems or traumatic personal histories that they brought into the relationship with them.
These are some of the reasons why people came for psychological help while I was working as a clinician. My interests in certain types of disorders drew me toward clinical research where I work for the rest of my career.
I derived benefit from the help of other clinicians before, during and after my career. The more someone understands what psychologists and other mental health professionals do, the more reasons they might find to seek out such help in critical situations and phases in their life.