You have been reading about patterns and rules, and some of it fits. You also have days when getting out of bed is all you can manage. You are wondering whether this library is the place to start.
On days like that, this library is not the place to start, and this page says so plainly.
01
What therapy is
Therapy is provided by licensed clinicians. Cleveland Clinic and NIMH both explain what it is, the main kinds, and how to find a therapist.
02
When it is the door
When what you are dealing with may be a condition. Only a clinician can assess that, and no page here tries.
When you need someone over time. A hard year, a loss, a long recovery. Therapy can stay with you over time.
When you are not safe, or are thinking of harming yourself, licensed mental-health care is the right door. If the danger is from someone in your life, there is a hotline.The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233. If tonight is an emergency, call or text 988 (US). This library is not that door.
When you want to work on what happened to you and not only on what you do now.
03
When it may not be enough alone
Some people have had good therapy, understand themselves well, and still do the same thing. That is not a failure of the therapy. It may mean a different question is worth asking beside it. Therapy Didn't Work. What Now? is about that.
04
How it fits with Project Gina
Project Gina is not therapy, medical care or diagnosis. It checks practitioners' credentials at the source and publishes what it found, with the date. It does not recommend anyone. In Arizona, therapy requires a state license. What Is Talk Therapy? lists the licenses and links to the board lookups, so you can check a therapist yourself. If you are in therapy, nothing here asks you to stop.
How to choose a therapist is covered by Cleveland Clinic's guide to finding one.
What needs a clinician before anything else is on When You Need Clinical Care First.