‘I've been in therapy for years - here's 13 reasons why you need it'

Daily Mirror

13-05-2025

Emma and Matt Willis have long reaped the benefits of the therapist's office. Now, they're bringing that same healing to the small screen in their new BBC One show.
After wrapping Love Is Blind UK, the pair return in Change Your Mind, Change Your Life - a four-part series hosted by Emma Willis and her hubby, former Busted star Matt Willis, alongside four of Britain's top-rated therapists.
It's packed with raw moments and real tools. The show's participants confront every demon - grief, anxiety, self-doubt - as they step into their healing journey. No dazzling lights, no filters, just the messy, brave work of getting better.
The new series champions therapy as a tool for transformation. And as someone who's seen eight therapists in twenty years, I can confirm: therapy isn't just helpful - it's life-saving. Here's why.
We check in with GPs when our bodies feel off - why not do the same for our minds? These days, I see my therapist after tough days or overstimulating city trips. It's routine care for my mental health and just as necessary.
Talking helps, but therapy goes further. It gives you frameworks. Strategies. My current therapist had me create a trauma timeline and even assigned reading - because healing requires structure, not just venting.
I was misdiagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) by a specialist who'd only seen me once. My current therapist, Jamie, worked with me consistently, challenging that label and eventually helping me get properly diagnosed with C-PTSD and high-functioning autism.
BPD came with a mountain of stigma. People treated me like I was dangerous or manipulative. Therapy helped me unlearn the shame and advocate for a rediagnosis that finally made sense.
I was abused in every way a child can be. That left deep wounds - and deeper confusion. Therapy helped me name what happened, and finally separate my identity from my trauma.
As a teen, I was emotionally explosive. I lashed out at everyone - parents, teachers, friends. Therapy taught me how to regulate my emotions rather than drown in them.
Before therapy, I couldn't hold down friendships or romantic connections. Intimacy was terrifying. Now, my relationships are grounded, honest and drama-free. (Well, mostly.)
I used to think saying 'no' meant I was mean. Now, I know that boundaries are kindness in disguise - and therapy helped me find the language and courage to set them.
I used to fall apart after every breakup. Therapy gave me coping strategies, self-soothing tools, and perspective. Now, I survive endings without losing myself.
My trauma taught me I deserved pain. Therapy taught me I didn't. That I am not what happened to me. That I am allowed peace and softness. Even love.
Under the wrong label, I was medicated into numbness - Xanax, escitalopram, even antipsychotics. Therapy helped me find what actually worked: a low dose of sertraline, some mediation and a lot less shame.
You don't need to be in crisis to benefit from therapy. These days, I attend semi-regularly, even during the good times. It keeps me grounded and self-aware.
Quite literally. I checked myself into a psych hospital at 19, desperate for help. Without therapy, I wouldn't be here - not as myself anyway. Therapy gave me back my life. And if it's made me 'crazy,' I'll take crazy over numb any day.