Yes, I think most people would benefit from therapy if they gave it a try with a good therapist who's a good fit. It's not the right tool for everyone, and good therapists can be very hard to find. But I definitely think the underlying process of therapy has the potential to be useful to most people.

It can be hard to tell when it's helping, though. In retrospect I think my gut has usually been right. There were times I've tried hard to see some value but suspected it wasn't going anywhere, and ultimately my sense was that it was useless. And there were times I thought therapy might be helping but couldn't quite put my finger on how, and looking back it was helpful in some important ways. But those feelings were always alternated with a lot if uncertainty and second-guessing, so I know how hard it is to tell when you're in the midst of it. My current therapy has been immensely helpful, but even though that's very clear to me most of the time, I still have doubts sometimes.