It’s not uncommon for new clients to request therapy sessions every other week, every 3 weeks, or even once-a-month instead of weekly. For those brand new to therapy, it might not be clear why this is discouraged. As a mental health professional, a part of my job is to educate clients on best practice to increase awareness going into therapy, and to make sure my clients are seeing the best possible results.
Consistency is Critical
If you’ve ever taken lessons for an instrument, a sport, or an activity, you probably took a lesson at least once a week. Classes in school are held daily, or a few times a week. Started a workout plan with a trainer? You’ve probably trained once or twice a week at a minimum.
When you’re trying to change thoughts and behaviors, constancy is critical. Weekly sessions are the industry gold standard for a reason–anything isn’t nearly as effective. Too large of time gaps between sessions make it too easy to fall back into old thoughts and habits.
Commit to Yourself
Have you ever been super motivated to reach a goal only to lose stamina and quit midway? Perhaps you tried to rationalize the reasons for quitting–or maybe you felt bad about yourself. Either way, if you’d stuck to it, you’d had a better chance of reaching your goal.
People often start therapy with good intentions and high motivation, but start to lose steam when change isn’t happening fast enough. Or when they start to feel a little better than they did before. And then the commitment fades–and so does the progress.
My professional & personal experience, as well as countless amounts of research has indicated this truth:
Discipline will get you much further than motivation.
Aiming for Results
As a mental healthcare provider who is committed to excellence in service, I expect all new clients to begin therapy with weekly sessions. This part of therapy is the action stage of change. When it’s decided that goals are being met, scaling back on sessions is an option. This falls under the maintenance stage of change.
Clients who work there way through the stages walk away knowing that therapy was a success. This is what I constantly strive for as a psychotherapist.
If you want to chat about working together, the first step is to schedule a free consultation.