Is Therapy Uncool For The Summer?
Every summer the therapist list-serves, Facebook groups, and the like start popping off with posts: “where are the clients?”, “has anyone else noticed they’re getting less inquiries?!” , “are anyone else’s clients cancelling a lot more recently or is it just me?!”.
In this business, the reality of the summer months is that they just tend to be a bit slower for many of us.
This doesn’t mean that people aren’t prioritizing their mental wellness, that clients are avoiding their therapist, or indeed whatever they have been working on in therapy, but that often priorities end up shifting throughout the summer months from what they were during the longer and dark winter months.
Practically, people are going on vacations and taking time off from work, kids are out of school, you tend to spend more time outside, and less in hibernation mode.
Back in Fall 2025, Genna wrote a blog post explaining Why The Darker Months Feel Heavier (And What You Can Do To Lighten Them). What we see happening in the summer, however, can be somewhat of the opposite effect.
Mentally, people are kinda going on vacations and taking time off from some of the shit that feels heavier in the darker months.
In the summertime (in certain parts here in Canada at least) we tend to have more access to longer days and sunlight increasing our exposure to Vitamin D, will tend to spend more time outdoors in the fresh air, reduce work schedules, and in turn this can often mean being around friends and family more. All of these factors can help to naturally improve mental health outcomes in individuals, or may account for that aforementioned reprioritization that can happen in the summer months.
What felt more urgent throughout the winter when life was maybe a bit slower, literally darker, and you had more time to spend inside your own head can sometimes get overshadowed by the events and burgeoning community of summer. With the excitement of summer, for some it becomes a lot easier to say “hey, I’m going to put a pin in (insert your go to topic with your therapist here) and just enjoy my summer instead”. Just take a walk around your own city and compare it to what it looked like back at the end of February and I’d bet you notice a lot more life, activity, and socializing.
If you aren’t paying close attention, many people won’t actually notice how much moods may lift as the days get longer and the weather warmer. If you are somebody who experiences mood shifts with the seasons, this information is actually really valuable data to pay attention to particularly when it comes to returning to the winter months.
Here are a couple of questions I encourage people to reflect on throughout the summer who experience such mood shifts:
How do I feel now compared to how I felt 4-5 months ago? What has changed?
What is happening around me right now, and how is it influencing what is happening within me?
What is my current outlook on life, and if I want to maintain this outlook long-term what do I need to remember to carry forward with me?
Now, does all of this mean therapists aren’t needed in the summer because everyone’s mental health is suddenly perfect?
Not necessarily. Sorry.
Mental wellness remains important year round, and sometimes that means you need the help of a qualified mental health professional!
What some folks notice is that when our focus shifts, different stressors arise in the summertime. Stay tuned next week to read more about what can be the challenges of summertime, when I launch my next blog post, I Got That Summertime Sadness.
P.S Here’s the link for the ear worm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il9nqWw9W3Y&list=RDil9nqWw9W3Y&start_radio=1 😉
