Will I be in therapy forever?
Don’t assume that’s the case.
You may have been told by your friends, family, or healthcare professionals that starting therapy may mean you’ll be in therapy for months or even years.
You may also have a lot of unresolved issues, challenges, and trauma to unpack and imagine that it will take a very long time to do so.
I encounter this myth with new clients starting the therapeutic journey all the time. This can delay or prohibit them from asking for help. They may feel overwhelmed thinking about the process ahead of them—both the time commitment and the expense.
I remind my clients that they may be surprised at how quickly they can process challenges, traumas, and experiences and suggest they stay open to the possibility that it might not take as long as they think.
Are there times when extended therapy is warranted?
Most certainly. If someone has very complex post-trauma stress or is dealing with significant psychiatric conditions, for example. However, even in those cases, we are not quick to jump to conclusions about the duration of treatment.
Marginalized people may also endure additional pressures and stresses, including limited access to care, and ongoing stressors, including abuse. The care that they are receiving may also be laced with bias, racism, and/or sexism, and therefore feel unsafe for the necessary work they need to do. Both the healthcare and mental health systems can be full of explicit or implicit bias.
What are some signs that therapy may be more short-term?
Of course, it depends on the person since our unique experiences are different! But some signs predictive of shorter-term therapy include:
They have healed previous wounds. They have gotten the help they need surrounding earlier loss experiences, versus someone carrying the weight of new challenges on top of old ones. We can only carry so much.
They have resilience. Someone may be more able to work through difficult experiences because they have not only worked through previous challenges but also because they know they can. People with resilience tend to have higher emotional intelligence or a wider window of tolerance and can deal with strong emotions without getting too overwhelmed.
They have support. People with a supportive network have additional resources they need outside of therapy to heal and grow. We cannot heal in isolation.
They have healthy coping skills, including emotion regulation, healthy distress tolerance skills, and an ample toolbox of stress-reducing approaches. .
How do I know when I need therapy? And how can it help?
There are times when therapy is necessary to help us navigate troubled waters and when we may need the extra support a therapist can provide. But that doesn’t mean we’ll be in therapy forever. :)
Highly effective therapies we use at Clear View Counseling, such as Brainspotting and EMDR, can shorten the duration of treatment because they access not only the mind but also the brain and nervous system.
Most often, stress and trauma are held in the body—not just the mind—and these approaches can produce quick results and have long-lasting effects on healing and growth.
Interested in learning more about Brainspotting and EMDR, and if they might work for you?
Schedule a free discovery call with me! We’ll explore whether either of these effective and long-lasting therapies could be instrumental in your healing journey.