How do you know when you are finished with therapy?

How do you know when you are finished with therapy?

As a therapist in my own practice, I am constantly asked how long therapy will last and how often a client needs to come to sessions. People still see a trope about therapy on television that shows stereotypical psychoanalysis, where people are expected to come multiple times a week and see the same analyst for years. I recently read an essay written by a real psychoanalytic psychiatrist about refusing to take on new clients if they already have a psychiatrist - arguing that since it's such an in-demand specialty, patients should just shrink their problems with their current one and be glad they're being cared for at all. This essay also reinforced the idea that therapy means working with the same therapist for years.

But the field of mental health has come a long way since Freud, and psychoanalytic psychiatrists aren't the only clinicians out there. In many states, other behavioral health professionals, including mental health counselors (LMHC) and marriage and family therapists (LMFT). These master's level clinicians are able to treat patients, provide insurance, and in the case of cognitive behavioral therapists, provide a mental health treatment style that is as effective as medication for treating anxiety, depression, ADD/ADHD, sexual dysfunction, and more. And here's a little-known secret: Insurance companies don't cover years of psychoanalysis because cognitive behavioral therapy (aka CBT) is effective in a relatively short period of time.

No progress with your therapist? Change and insight probably won't happen overnight, but if your therapist isn't able to show your progress or set concrete goals, it may be time to look for someone else. Feedback Informed Treatment is a tool that counselors use to measure the work you do in your psychotherapy sessions. If you can guide the session by measuring how things are going in your life and how things are going in the session, then talking to a therapist becomes actual therapy and not just that stream of consciousness from the days of psychoanalysis.

I compare therapy to learning a language. When you learn a new language, you can't expect to become fluent overnight. By learning the basics in therapy and practicing at home, and then truly applying the language in your daily life, you will be on your way to becoming fluent. But even if you're fluent in a new language, that doesn't mean there isn't more to learn. How does this apply to therapy? You can start with a therapist and learn a few things - but definitely continue with another therapist if you need refresher sessions and build from there! Therapy may be evidence-based, but it's still not as simple as - you have this diagnosis and now you're cured. But the benefits of therapy don’t have to lie on the couch for years!

Alternative practitioner psychotherapy

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