Therapy As a Rapid Process

Perhaps this will sound confusing after my last post, but therapy can sometimes be a rapid process. How can that be after pointing out just how long it can take to get to the bottom of things in my last post?

The fact is that not everyone comes to therapy with the same expectation. Some people are coming for an overhaul and others for a tune up. And others are coming to get their engines jump started. In fact some psychotherapy theorists have argued that all we should really be doing as therapists is helping people to get "unstuck." The idea here is that people are generally coming up against one problem after another, and that is a normal situation. However, sometimes they come up against situations which they can't solve. They are not thinking creatively or "outside the box." With help, however, they can solve their dilemma and continue to go on with their lives.

Another way of looking at therapy as a rapid process is to consider mild to moderate depression. The client comes in in a demoralized state. They have started thinking negatively. They have quit being assertive. They have pulled away from friends. They have quit eating and sleeping in their normal patterns. All of these problems tend to pile on top of each other and compound each other. Very often, as the therapist helps the client to improve one area, there is a positive spreading of effect so that the other areas start to improve. Instead of a negative chain reaction, there is a positive chain reaction.

Many therapists today teach cognitive therapy, which is a set of skills designed to overcome irrational negative thoughts. This therapy was originally designed to be administered in 20 sessions. However, even that is a long time for many patients. The average number of sessions for a client to stay in therapy is 6 to 8 sessions.

There is no "right" length of time to stay in therapy. It is up to each patient/client to decide how much change they want to accomplish. It is also up to them to decide how much of their personal lives they want to disclose in order to accomplish that. The important thing is for the client to be up front with their therapist, explaining what they want to accomplish and how much time they are willing to invest in that. The therapist can then tell them if their expectations are realistic or not.