Let’s Achieve Your Goals!

The duration of therapy is very different for different people. How long we work together

depends on the severity of the problems you’re struggling with, how long they’ve been going on, and how willing you are to work on them.

Off To A Good Start

In Our first session, we will focus on you helping me understand your problems, the pain you’re dealing with, and what goals you would like to set for counseling. It’s an opportunity for me to get to learn about your background. It’s also a time for you to ask for questions about counseling. We can also discuss some of the policies I ask in our work together. I believe taking the time to do this creates a safe environment for us to work together.

My preference after that is to begin weekly sessions so we can develop a relationship and make a strong start on your goals. If this is an impossibility, I’m able to be flexible with your schedule and needs.

Doing The Work

The duration of counseling can vary widely. We can get a few things accomplished in as few as six sessions. This would be if you came in with a specific issue that is new and relatively straightforward. For example, you’re experiencing some mild depression for the first time in your life.

Most of my clients have more complex issues. Many have been struggling for a long time before seeking help. Others have attempted other solutions such as medication, other therapists, self-help, etc. When this is the case, a longer period of therapy will be required.

We will review goals and progress throughout our sessions. It’s great when we can celebrate success, as well as identify other areas for improvement. We can also decide if you’ve completed your goals and are ready to stop coming to therapy. It’s useful at that point to also discuss strategies for preventing problems from returning.

As you make progress, we can taper your sessions further out, such as bi-weekly, monthly, or even quarterly. Some of my clients like to have a checkup every now and then, much like you would with your dentist or eye doctor.

Some of my clients prefer to keep coming regularly to work on personal growth areas. Many of them just enjoy having a chance to share their ongoing experiences. This can continue to help improve areas of life, often beyond where they were when they first came to counseling.

Wrapping Up

All relationships have a start, middle, and ending. It’s important that we spend at least part of your final session discussing our work so you can have closure. This provides you a sense of completeness. Completeness frees up your psychological energy so it can be directed towards your life without any regrets from our work together.

The door is not closed if you need other help in the future. It’s another benefit of having an established relationship with a therapist so you need not start from scratch again. I’m always happy to continue to help you!