Summer Serotonin

Therapists often anticipate somewhat of a “summer slump.”

This is when clients decide to take a summer break from therapy for a variety of reasons
-Travel/vacation schedule.
-They feel better during summer because they are not in school/ dealing with stressors related to school).
-The sunshine boosts their mood, and they feel less sad.

What we tend to forget when we take that break:
-Those symptoms can still occur before, during, or after vacation.
-The reasons your struggle during school could be discovered when you are not dealing with the active stress of school.
-There are reasons you are feeling sad, potentially other than seasonal depression.

Overall, therapists remind their clients: Anxiety, depression, poor boundaries, trauma responses, or family conflict do not take a summer vacation.

I totally can validate the mood boost of summer. It’s completely understandable. The sunshine, encouragement of spending time outside, making new memories. It’s all absolutely wonderful!

I also know, as a therapist, once summer concludes, your stress has just been waiting around the corner. Your skills are still not strong, or now you are lacking on the strength of using them. The conflict you have with your family is still hindering. The upcoming holiday season and difficulty with boundaries is approaching. The people you feel so anxious around during the school semester are awaiting their return as well. The difficulty with stress management with your workload has not changed. The trauma from your past was just swept under the beach towel.

The other thing I know, as a therapist, is that once you take that extended break from therapy, your therapist might be booked up when you return. For liability purposes, we cannot just keep folks’ file open without seeing them. I never want to turn anyone away who finally reaches out for help. Especially those who I have built a therapeutic bond with. However, sometimes your therapist is full when you return. And I personally know how incredibly hard it is to find someone that is a great fit to be your therapist. Often times, you do not want to go on that search again. Numerous clients have told me that there are a lot of professionals who do not respond when a client reaches out for scheduling a consultation or a first appointment. That is absolutely crushing, discouraging, and disappointing. I do not want you to feel alone, stuck, or lost in that struggle.

So, if at all possible, try not to take that “summer break.”

Use that typical “summer break” time to do some really good inner work.

If you have to slow down due to your schedule, try at least monthly to keep an appointment with your therapist and work towards preparing yourself for the challenges of the holiday season.

Dig deeper with journalling or reflections and identify core fears, memories, or patterns.

And if you’re reading this, contemplating getting started in therapy, never actually having started before, heck…summer is probably a great time to get in! Get yourself started.

Reach out, I would love to assist you in creating those goals for your personal progress.