Why start therapy
Sometimes there is no big reason.
Just a feeling that is hard to explain: that everything feels a little heavier, that everything takes a little more effort, and that, without noticing, life starts to become smaller.
Other times the signs are clearer: anxiety, the body on alert, thoughts that do not let go and keep coming back again and again.
But you do not always need to be “unwell” to begin.
Sometimes starting therapy is simply giving yourself a space to pause, understand what is happening and inhabit your life again with more calm.
Signs it may be a good moment
Your mind does not stop, and resting becomes difficult.
Your body feels tense, as if it never lowers its guard.
It is hard to enjoy things or feel truly present.
Thoughts repeat, hook onto you and do not go away.
You are doing a lot, but still feel it is not enough.
What you can find in therapy
Therapy is a space where you can understand what is happening without judgement.
A place where you can gradually find other ways of relating to yourself, to others and to the world.
I work from a cognitive behavioural and systemic foundation, while understanding therapy as more than techniques: a space to understand experience, make sense of what you are living through and find ways of being in your life. When it makes sense, I integrate tools such as mindfulness or compassion-focused therapy.
Adapting the process to you. To your moment. To your pace.
I am Carolina Palau Oltra, a psychologist in Barcelona and online. And if something in all this resonates with you, perhaps it is not by chance.