THERAPY FAQS

What is therapy?

Therapy (or psychotherapy) is a collaborative treatment approach with a trained professional addressing mental, emotional, behavioral, or interpersonal difficulties. A common goal is to make positive, sustainable change that has been hard to do on your own. This contrasts with medication treatments which address such problems at the biological level, when indicated. Medication treatment is under the care of a psychiatrist or prescribing physician instead of a licensed psychologist.

Why should I see a therapist?

A couple of markers for when someone should seek therapy include 1) if your problems are impacting your personal life, professional life, emotional health, physical health, or other areas of life; and 2) those problems have persisted for several weeks, months, or years.

Why can’t I just talk to a friend?

Most people have already tried fixing their problems on their own before considering therapy. It is a good thing to start with self-management like talking to a friend, loved one, mentor, or spiritual counselor for mild or mild to moderate concerns.

When problems still persist, the next step could be seeing a professional. A psychologist conducts an initial assessment to get history and consider factors contributing to your problems. Then a collaborative treatment plan is developed to address the problems you are facing. Treatments consist of one or a variety of well-researched interventions.

Will therapy for work me?

People seek help for a wide variety of difficulties, from emotional (depression, anxiety, anger, etc), mental, behavioral, relationship, or stage

of life problems. People also seek help at different points in their path for change. So, there is no global statement I can make about how long therapy takes for a positive outcome or if it works for you. I can tell you the process of therapy starts with an initial assessment and a tentative treatment plan on the first visit. I tend to say that by session three, the initial treatment plan and goal should be more precise, concrete, and collaboratively developed with the client to reach the most optimal outcome.

How long does therapy take to work?

The length of treatment is dependent on how many short or long-term goals a client has. People may only have a vague idea of what changes or goals they want from therapy, and that is fine too. A psychologist can help clarify or develop realistic goals for therapy and outline steps to make healthy change. Some people may have one concrete therapy goal, but others may have multiple or complex goals. All those factors contribute to an estimated length of treatment.

What does research say about therapy?

There are many, many evidenced-based therapy interventions. Many therapy research trials hover between 10-16 sessions to address one chief complaint. That tends to be an anchor I discuss with clients and whether I reasonably think someone can reach their goals in a shorter, longer, or around that number of sessions. Keep in mind that those research protocols have stringent inclusion criteria to highly control for a specific mental health concern paired with a very specific intervention as the mechanism for change. Real world situations with real world clients can lead to significantly varied lengths of treatment. A highly informed client who has already developed a lot of coping skills with one specific therapy goal may have a completely different experience than a client who has trouble with chronic instability and multi-faceted needs.

My typical process is to assess progress with a client around 6 visit blocks at a time, upon first starting therapy. Certainly, therapy goals and progress can change with each visit, but significant markers of change often do not typically happen in 1 visit increments. There are briefer solution focused therapies as well as longer-term therapies, depending on what goals the client wants to work on.

Since therapy is so client specific, what can I do to improve the odds of a positive outcome?

Therapy is collaborative, and the best outcomes tend to occur when the client is putting in their best effort, open to feedback, and has a good working relationship with their therapist. Research shows the most reliable factor for a positive treatment outcome is the relationship between the client and therapist, not only client factors alone or therapist factors alone. Do your best to find a therapist whose approach you understand and a therapist who you feel understands you.

I often compare the therapist-client relationship to a coach-athlete relationship. The client is ideally putting in their best effort and trying what they can, while the coach is there to provide instruction, feedback, support, insight, or even challenge the client at times. The client should not expect to be the expert, but therapy is also not a passive service like bringing your car to the shop and expecting a better product after paying a fee.

Anything else you can tell me? 

Therapy goals and plans can absolutely change based on new information and changes in life events. Although it is not always easy, I do encourage clients to provide as much background information on your situation and be upfront as able during each stage of the process. All that data helps tailor my impressions and recommendations, so we can be as collaborative as possible.

In turn, I am as upfront as possible about the potential benefits v. limitations/risks of therapy at the start of the process and over the course of your visits. It is both my job as well as my personal goal to discuss this information with you, so you can make an informed decision about what is best for you.