Why Now Is a Good Time to Start Therapy

There’s something about this time of year that brings a lot to the surface. The pace shifts, routines wobble, energy dips — and all the things we’ve been quietly carrying throughout the year (stress, worry, grief, exhaustion, parenting challenges) start to feel a little more noticeable.

Kids and teens feel it too. Sometimes through irritation or big feelings… sometimes through shutdowns that seem to come out of nowhere.

And most people aren’t thinking about therapy in these moments — they’re just trying to get through the day, hold things together, support their kids, and keep moving.

But when these moments start piling up — the tired ones, the overwhelmed ones, the “this feels harder than it should” ones — it can be a signal that you or your child might benefit from some support.

Here are a few reasons why now might be a meaningful time to begin.

Kids and teens benefit from support before things escalate

When anxiety, big feelings, or challenging behaviours begin shaping how the day unfolds, it’s often a sign your child is carrying more than they can make sense of on their own. Kids don’t usually “grow out of” overwhelm — they learn to move through it with support.

Therapy gives children and teens a safe place to understand what’s happening inside and to practice emotional skills that make life feel easier now and as they grow. Early support helps prevent these patterns from settling in and becoming harder to shift.

Parents often reach out when things look bigger on the outside — meltdowns, shutdowns, after-school crashes, perfectionism, sleep struggles, anxiety “for no reason,” or behaviours that don’t match the moment. But these moments usually come after months of trying hard to cope.

Starting therapy now can ease these struggles before they grow or begin showing up in other ways. Kids don’t need to be “struggling badly enough” to come to therapy — they just need a place to land where their feelings make sense and where they can learn tools that truly help.

Realizing things need to shift is often the moment therapy helps most

There’s usually a point when you notice something isn’t working anymore — when you feel stretched too thin, when resentment shows up, or when you realize you’re losing pieces of yourself while caring for everyone else.

These moments are signals.

When you sense that the way things are isn’t sustainable, that’s often the clearest invitation to get support. Therapy can help you understand what’s happening beneath the surface and make the kinds of shifts that bring more clarity, connection, and ease into your life.

Small changes now can make next year feel different

People often imagine therapy as a huge life overhaul. It’s not. Most of the time, what creates real change is something much smaller — one new insight, one boundary that protects your energy, one moment of co-regulation with your child, one grounding strategy that helps you pause, or simply one hour a week where you don’t have to hold everything together.

These small shifts, repeated over time, begin to change how you respond to stress, how connected you feel to yourself and your child, and how manageable life feels day to day.

Starting now gives you a head start — support that can make the coming year feel lighter and more manageable.

You don’t need a crisis to deserve support

So many people wait until things are really hard before reaching out. But therapy isn’t a last resort — it’s a place for care, for understanding yourself, and for tending to the parts of life that feel heavy.

You don’t have to justify needing help, and you don’t have to wait until things get worse. Wanting things to feel different — or even just wondering if they could — is enough. Therapy can be a proactive choice, offered at the moment you realize you don’t want to keep doing everything on your own.

Your future self will thank you

Beginning therapy now isn’t just about today. It’s about the parent who can respond to their child’s big emotions with a little more calm… the teen who starts to trust themselves… the woman who finally gets to set down the weight she’s been carrying… and the child who learns they aren’t “too much”.

The care you offer yourself or your child now has a way of reaching into the days ahead. Growth through therapy ripples forward into your future. It can shift how you feel, how you relate, and how you move through your life.

If something in this feels familiar,  for yourself or your child, please reach out. We’re here to answer questions, talk through what support could look like, or help you find the right fit. 

Book a Session

Learn more about Therapy at Valley Art Therapy