As a therapist, I’m really glad our culture is coming around to the idea that we could all use some mental health support from time to time. If you’re thinking about starting therapy, here are 6 tips to help you make the most of it.

Here are some tips for how to support someone who really needs help right now—and hold on to yourself in the process.

It can be really hard to find a therapist who’s the right fit (trust me, I’ve been there!), but let me assure you: making the decision to reach out for help is a tremendous achievement in itself. If you’ve come this far, you’re already halfway there.

If we grow up believing we’re responsible if anything upsetting happens at home—or in moments when we don’t get the emotional support we need—we gradually lose pieces of our sense of self-worth.

We make up stories and false beliefs about ourselves to support the idea that there’s something wrong with us. And we tell ourselves this is why we’re not getting what we need emotionally. For example: “I’m not loveable” or “I’m not good/smart/talented enough.” Over time, we develop coping mechanisms to back up our false beliefs.