Five Myths About Therapy That Keep People in Oakville Stuck
If you’ve been thinking “Maybe I should talk to someone about this” for a while now, you’re not alone. A lot of people spend months—sometimes years—considering therapy before they actually make the call. And in Oakville, where high achievement is the norm and everyone seems to “have it together,” admitting you’re struggling can feel impossible.
Often, it’s not because people don’t want help. It’s because they’re not sure what therapy actually is, how it works, or whether it’s really for them. And honestly, there’s a lot of confusing (and sometimes just plain wrong) information out there.
At Shift Cognitive Therapy, we’ve been working with people in Oakville for over 20 years, and we’ve heard the same concerns come up again and again. So let’s talk about five common myths about therapy that keep people stuck —and what’s actually true. Hopefully, this helps you make a decision that feels right for you.
Myth #1: “I Should Be Able to Handle This Myself”
This is the big one. The belief that needing therapy means you’re weak, or that strong people should be able to figure things out on their own.
Here’s the reality: You wouldn’t set your own broken bone, right? You wouldn’t do your own dental surgery or represent yourself in court. Mental health is health—and sometimes you need a professional.
The truth is, seeking help is actually a sign of self-awareness and problem-solving ability. It means you recognize when something isn’t working and you’re willing to do something about it. That’s not weakness. It’s strength and it’s smart.
Here’s a useful way to think about it: there’s a difference between temporary stress (which you probably can handle on your own) and clinical conditions, like anxiety or depression (which respond much better to professional treatment). If symptoms have been going on for more than a couple of weeks and they’re interfering with your work, relationships, or daily life—that’s when it makes sense to get help.
We hear this from clients all the time: “I spent two years trying to handle my anxiety alone. I wish I’d come in after two months instead. I wasted so much time suffering when I didn’t have to.”
Myth #2: “Therapy Is Just Talking About Your Feelings”
People often picture therapy as lying on a couch, talking about your childhood while someone nods sympathetically. Or they think it’s just venting to a professional listener—something you could get from talking to a friend.
That’s not what evidence-based therapy actually looks like.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)—which is what we primarily use—is more like taking a course on yourself. You’re learning specific skills and techniques to manage symptoms. There’s structure, homework between sessions, and measurable progress.
We also use approaches like Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), which help people see their patterns of interaction in real time—especially within relationships. These approaches show you how you might be contributing to conflicts, even without realizing it, and teach you to recognize and correct those patterns as they’re happening.
What actually happens in sessions is we help you identify thought and behaviour patterns that maintain problems, teach you techniques to manage symptoms that interfere with good functioning, and give you space to practice new behaviours to overcome challenges. Therapy sessions involve lots of active learning, not just talking.
And talking with a therapist is different from talking to a friend because friends give advice based on their own experience. Therapists teach you skills based on research about what actually works. Friends tell you what you want to hear, while therapists maintain objectivity so they can see patterns you might miss. And therapy is focused entirely on you—there’s no obligation for you to put aside your own needs to support your therapist’s!
Think of it this way: therapy isn’t just about feeling heard (though that matters too). It’s about learning tools you can use for the rest of your life.
Myth #3: “Therapy Takes Years and Years”
There’s this idea that once you start therapy, you’re in it forever—that it’s endless weekly sessions with no end in sight.
That’s not how modern therapy works, especially CBT. Most people see us for somewhere between 6 and 20 sessions, depending on what they’re working on. Treatment is issue-focused with clear goals that we establish together from the start.
Here’s how it typically unfolds: You’ll start with weekly sessions while you’re learning core skills. As you get better at using those skills, we space sessions out—maybe every two to three weeks, then monthly. When you’ve met your goals, you “graduate” from therapy. If something comes up years later, you can always come back for a tune-up, but you’re not locked into ongoing treatment forever.
Our goal is actually for you to not need us. We’re teaching you skills so you can manage on your own. Success means you leaving therapy with tools you didn’t have before.
The idea that therapy is endless probably comes from older approaches that were more open-ended. But evidence-based approaches like CBT are time-limited by design. And honestly, most people notice improvement within the first few sessions.
Myth #4: “My Problems Aren’t Bad Enough for Therapy”
This one comes up a lot. People think therapy is only for crisis situations—that you need to be suicidal or completely unable to function before it’s appropriate to seek help.
That’s just not true. You don’t need to be in crisis. You don’t need a formal diagnosis. And you definitely don’t need to wait until things are unbearable before asking for support.
Therapy helps with all kinds of things: navigating life transitions, improving relationships, managing stress, working through grief, making difficult decisions, or just wanting to understand yourself better. You don’t have to be “broken” to benefit from therapy.
Here’s a helpful comparison: you don’t wait until you have a cavity to brush your teeth. You don’t wait until you have a heart attack to start eating healthy. Why wait until you’re in crisis to address your mental health?
And here’s the thing about the “someone has it worse” comparison: there will always be someone whose situation seems harder than yours. That doesn’t make your struggle less real or less worthy of support. Therapists don’t rank suffering. Your pain matters, period.
Early intervention actually makes treatment easier and more effective. It’s much simpler to address anxiety when it’s mild than when it’s been controlling your life for years. Don’t wait.
Myth #5: “Starting Therapy Means I’m Broken”
This myth is about identity—the fear that going to therapy means admitting something is fundamentally wrong with you, or that you’ll be shown that you’re a “weak” person who can’t do it on their own.
But therapy is healthcare, not a label. It’s like going to the dentist: You have a problem, you get professional help, the problem improves, and you move on with your life. It doesn’t define you.
Here’s a better way to think about it: You’re not broken and in need of fixing. You have a skill gap you want to fill. Therapy teaches you skills to be more independent, not less. The whole point is to learn how to use effective tools so you don’t need us anymore.
And about privacy: Therapy is confidential. You don’t have to tell anyone you’re going and we don’t advise your employer. But honestly, the stigma around therapy has decreased significantly in recent years. Many successful people now openly discuss their own therapy experiences, and younger generations see it as a part of normal self-care. Corporate wellness programs include it. Athletes and executives talk about it publicly.
What actually happens is this: You learn skills, your symptoms improve, you finish therapy, and you live your life with better tools than you had before. If a new issue comes up years later, you can come back—just like how you’d go back to your doctor when a new health concern pops up.
Client regularly tell us they felt afraid therapy would make them weak. But, instead, it made them feel stronger and gave them tools they didn’t have before.
The Bottom Line
Most of what keeps people from starting therapy isn’t about therapy itself—it’s about misconceptions. The reality is that therapy is skills-based, time-limited, effective healthcare that helps with everything from everyday struggles to serious mental health concerns.
And here’s something most people don’t realize until after they start: therapy is actually covered by most extended health benefit plans. The investment you’re worried about? It’s often already paid for.
If you’ve been thinking about therapy for a while—whether it’s for anxiety, depression, relationship issues, work stress, or just feeling stuck—the best time to start is usually sooner than you think. Most people who come to see us say the same thing: “I wish I hadn’t waited so long.”
At Shift Cognitive Therapy, we’ve been helping people in Oakville navigate these exact hesitations for over 20 years. Our first step is always a brief phone or email consultation where you can ask questions, learn about our approach, and decide if it’s right for you. No pressure, no obligation.