Medication, Therapy, and the Feeling That It Should Be Working By Now

If you’re currently taking medication for anxiety, depression, or another mental health difficulty while also considering counselling, you’re not unusual at all. In fact, many people who come to therapy are already navigating prescriptions alongside everything else life throws at them.

And with that often comes a whole bundle of questions, worries, and sometimes a bit of quiet frustration.

You might be wondering:

“If I’m on medication, why do I still feel like this?”

“Is therapy even going to help if tablets aren’t fixing it?”

“Does this mean something is wrong with me?”

Let’s pause on that last one for a moment.

Because the short answer is: no, it doesn’t.

When Medication Doesn’t Feel Like the Magic Fix

Many people start medication hoping it will feel like someone has pressed a reset button on their brain.

Suddenly the anxiety disappears, sleep becomes perfect, motivation returns, and everything feels manageable again.

But mental health medication rarely works like flipping a switch. It’s usually much more subtle than that. Sometimes it softens the edges of anxiety. Sometimes it lifts the lowest points of depression. Sometimes it simply makes things a little more manageable.

And sometimes… it’s complicated.

Medication can interact with other medications. Bodies respond differently. What works brilliantly for one person might do very little for someone else. Dosages change, medications change, and sometimes the process involves a bit of trial and adjustment.

It’s not a sign of failure. It’s just the reality of how human bodies work.

The Worry That You’re Being Dismissed

Something many clients share in counselling is the worry that they haven’t been fully heard when talking about symptoms.

They might say things like:

“The doctor said it should work.”

“They told me to give it more time.”

“I felt like I was being dramatic.”

For some people this can leave them feeling confused or even doubting themselves.

To be clear, most doctors are working incredibly hard within systems that are often overstretched. But appointments can be short, conversations rushed, and sometimes there isn’t enough time to explore everything someone is experiencing.

Therapy offers a space where those experiences can be talked about more fully, without feeling like you need to rush through a ten-minute appointment slot.

A Bit About My Background

Before training as a counsellor, I worked as a nurse. That experience gave me a deeper understanding of medications, side effects, and how different treatments can interact with each other.

I feel genuinely grateful for that knowledge because it often helps when clients are trying to make sense of what they’re experiencing.

Sometimes it’s simply reassuring for someone to hear:

“Actually, that side effect is something people do report.”

Or to talk through the possibility that another medication, health condition, or life factor might be influencing how something feels.

Now, I’m not prescribing medication and I’m not replacing medical advice, that’s always something to discuss with your GP or medical team. But having that nursing background can help me understand the wider picture a little more easily, and it often helps clients feel less alone with their questions.

That said, medications are constantly evolving. New ones appear, guidelines change, and even the names can feel like they were designed by someone who enjoys tongue twisters. Honestly, sometimes I look at a medication name and think, “I’m going to need to pronounce that very confidently and hope for the best.”

So if you’ve ever struggled to pronounce or spell your medication, you’re in good company.

Therapy Isn’t About Replacing Medication

Sometimes people worry that starting therapy means they should stop medication, or that if therapy works they “shouldn’t need tablets anymore.”

That’s not how I see it.

Medication and therapy can work alongside each other beautifully.

Medication may help settle the nervous system, ease the intensity of symptoms, or create a little more emotional breathing space. Therapy then provides somewhere to explore the thoughts, experiences, patterns, and feelings that sit underneath.

In many ways, it’s similar to how I work as a counsellor.

At my core I am a person-centred counsellor, which means the relationship and your experience remain at the heart of the work we do together. But I also integrate different approaches where it feels helpful for you as an individual.

Because people aren’t one-size-fits-all.

And neither is therapy.

Interestingly, medication can be a bit like that too. Sometimes it takes finding the right combination, the right support, and the right pace for you.

You’re Not Doing It Wrong

One of the biggest fears people carry is that if medication hasn’t “fixed” things, then they must somehow be doing recovery incorrectly.

But mental health doesn’t work like a maths equation where one solution solves everything.

It’s more like learning what helps your particular mind and body.

Sometimes that includes medication.

Sometimes it includes therapy.

Often it includes both.

What matters most is having a space where you can talk honestly about what’s working, what isn’t, and how you’re really feeling, without needing to minimise it or explain it away.

And that’s exactly what counselling aims to offer.