How to know when to move on from therapy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maine52
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Maine52

Guest
So, after about a 2.5 years of working with a therapist and doing some reading on my own, I have finally come to understand what exactly happened to me during my emotionally abusive childhood. I realize now that I suffered a substantial amount of verbal abuse from both of my parents, and that has left me with the mental health problems I have to this day.

Now that I’ve had this break through, I’m not sure how much good the therapist is doing anymore. So I’m looking for some perspective. For those of you who have been through therapy for childhood issues, how did you know when it was time to move on from your therapist?
 
Typically–or perhaps I should say in ideal situations–emotional support and helpful honest feedback about life’s challenges is something people find from their interpersonal relationships. If your need for feedback and professional guidance is more than that and especially if your efforts to find the support you need is harming your relationships or consistently leading you in fruitless directions you see a therapist. (Every source of support is going to lead you in a fruitless direction once in awhile. We learn ourselves through experience, and that process normally involves taking some wrong turns, seeing they’re wrong, admitting that and trying something else.)

You have two options you have not mentioned:

a) take a break from therapy or schedule sessions far less frequently and see how that goes, using that to decide whether to see your therapist less frequently or just not at all.

b) changing to a different therapist because you feel you’re not getting a substantial amount of what you need to go forward from your present therapist. (People in athletics also do this with coaches, but therapists tend to be much less likely to take these actions personally.)

I guess I’d tell my therapist that my goal is to eventually transition from therapy to a mutual emotional support system with my friends and relatives, and that towards that end I’d like to schedule therapy sessions about 1/3 as often. Get professional feedback and then decide for yourself what you want to do.

If you feel this therapist is just doing nothing for you, though, I’d stop therapy and then if I felt I needed additional help I’d look for a new therapist. This is what I did. I haven’t found a need to find a new therapist yet, but I’m open to the possibility if I get stuck. In retrospect (and I say this so you know which grain of salt to take my advice with), I should have ended sessions with that therapist long before I did.
 
Isn’t the therapist tapering you off? Moving appointments farther apart?
 
I would talk it over with your therapist, see if he/she agrees that you could stop sessions, or have them less frequently.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top