How Long Will This Take?

Clients often wish to know how long they'll need to be in therapy in order to get the help they want. This is an understandable question, of course. We all seem to want to be able to "get a handle on" whatever it is we're getting ourselves into, especially when it's a strange, new, or potentially scary situation. I don't know though, maybe some therapists are able to answer this question with assurance: "We'll need to meet seven times (or 107 times), and then you'll be just fine." I don't know any of those therapists however.

My answer is usually derived from my previous experience with clients, and might be something like: "Well, that's a really hard thing to know for certain, but my experience has been that sometimes one session provides something a client needs, and they consider themselves done, while I've worked with other clients literally for many years. Let's see how things go for a few sessions, and re-assess at that time."

While this might be more vague than a client had hoped for, it is, in my experience, realistic. There are simply too many variables that go into how successful, or how quickly successful, therapy will be, to be able to provide a definitive answer up front. Some of these are: therapist skill; client motivation, willingness and commitment; the nature of the issues being addressed; client's support system, or lack of it; previous experiences with therapy; age; and
defining what it is that client and therapist think the therapy is about, or to put it more succinctly, goals.

If you're considering therapy, my suggestion would be: try to remain open minded regarding how long it might last. The question itself can certainly be re-visited with your therapist during the therapy process. Initial expectations might have shifted, goals might have changed, previously unconsidered issues might be asking for attention, and unexpected benefits might be getting realized. In the final analysis, you, the client, will decide whether or not to continue with therapy.



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