Generally speaking there are two reasons people go to psychotherapy:

(1) Symptom relief - finding relief from the immediate symptoms that are afflicting the individual’s emotional and mental health.

(2) self-improvement/character change –gaining greater understanding of one’s own role in perpetuating one’s unhappiness. Traditionally associated with gaining greater insight into one’s maladaptive patterns that are outside of the person’s immediate awareness. Gaining greater insight then leads to removing the barriers to self-fulfillment. This type of therapy has been referred to as a combination of “insight psychotherapy” and “self-actualization”

However these two reasons for entering therapy often blend into each other and what initially starts out as symptom relief often transitions into the more insight-oriented type of therapeutic engagement.

When deciding on whether to try psychotherapy, one can ask oneself whether there are any pursuits in life more worthwhile than gaining greater understanding and appreciation of self and others.