The Space Between Struggling and Seeking Help

There’s this strange middle place where you know something’s wrong, but you haven’t reached out yet. You live there for weeks, months, maybe even years.

At Televero Health, we call this “the space between” — and it might be the most difficult place to be. You’re aware enough to know you’re struggling, but not quite ready to ask for help. You see the problem clearly, but the solution feels just out of reach.

Maybe you open a therapist’s website, then close it. You type out a message asking about appointments, then delete it. You tell yourself next week will be better. You convince yourself you should be able to handle it on your own. You wonder if therapy is really necessary, if it would actually help, if it’s worth the time and vulnerability it would require.

This space between recognizing your struggle and reaching toward help is rarely talked about. But it’s where so many people get stuck. It’s a kind of limbo — not in denial anymore, but not actively moving toward change either.

The truth is, this in-between place is part of the journey. It’s not a failure or a detour. It’s a natural stage in the process of change. In fact, most people spend more time here than anywhere else.

What makes this space so difficult is that it’s full of competing voices. Part of you knows something needs to shift. But another part worries about what reaching out might mean. What it might say about you. What it might require of you. What might happen if you actually let someone see how things really are.

You might be someone who’s always handled things on your own. Someone others rely on for strength. Someone who prides yourself on self-sufficiency. The thought of saying, “I need help” might feel foreign, even wrong somehow.

Or maybe you’ve tried to get help before and it didn’t go well. Maybe you weren’t heard. Maybe you didn’t click with the person you talked to. Maybe it felt like too much work for too little change. Those experiences make the space between even harder to cross.

What we’ve found in our work is that this in-between place becomes most painful when people blame themselves for being there. When they see their hesitation as weakness or procrastination rather than a natural part of the process. When they believe they should be further along than they are.

But what if this space between isn’t a problem to be fixed? What if it’s actually serving a purpose? What if your hesitation isn’t weakness, but wisdom — a part of you making sure you’re ready, making sure it’s safe, making sure the next step is the right one?

The truth is, no one makes significant life changes without spending some time in uncertainty first. No one goes from struggling to healing without passing through this middle ground of questions, doubt, and careful consideration. It’s not just normal — it’s necessary.

So what do you do while you’re here?

First, you acknowledge it. You name it: “I’m in that space between knowing something needs to change and taking the step toward change.” Just recognizing where you are can bring relief.

Then, you get curious about what’s keeping you here. Not to judge it or push past it, but to understand it. What are you concerned might happen if you reach out? What are you worried it might mean about you? What previous experiences are shaping your hesitation now?

Sometimes just bringing these questions into awareness is enough to create movement. You realize your concerns make sense given your history, but they don’t have to determine your future. You see how past experiences have created caution, but you don’t have to be bound by them forever.

The space between struggling and seeking help isn’t a failure. It’s a valid, important part of your journey. It deserves your compassion, not your criticism.

And when you’re ready to move through it — not because you’ve forced yourself, but because it feels right — we’ll be here on the other side.

Whenever you’re ready to cross that space, we’re here to meet you.