How Often Should I Attend Therapy?

You’re searching for therapists and wondering to yourself, how often should I attend therapy? You haven’t done therapy before, and aren’t quite sure what to expect. Although you know what issues you want to address with a therapist, you’re questioning, how long is someone typically in therapy? What if I only want to come for a few sessions?

 

The truth is that therapy is an investment into your wellbeing. It is most effective as a long-term commitment towards inner exploration, growth, and challenging yourself to be insightful. On average, people are in therapy for several months. They may have specific goals they are working towards, or want to take a slow pace at addressing difficult topics. 

 

It’s understandable that you may not want to attend therapy every week. While there is no commitment to do so, it ultimately depends on what you want to get out of the process. It’s intimidating to think about starting therapy, but important to consider the benefits of being consistent with it.

 

To summarize this blog into three paragraphs:

 

At the start of your journey, you should consider attending therapy weekly. This is due to a few reasons: your life story takes time to properly unfold. You and your therapist are strangers, meeting together to embark on an intimate journey together. It’ll take time for them to get to know you and understand how they can best support you.

 

Next, consistency helps you work on both past and present stressors. You may be coming to address relationship issues, for example. You and your partner have resentment towards each other, and this makes it difficult to move forward together. If you’re meeting inconsistently, your therapist will likely be playing catch–up more than necessary. This could affect the effectiveness of your therapy.

 

Finally, weekly therapy is effective for tracking symptoms and progress towards goals. If you’re only meeting with your therapist once or twice a month, it can be difficult to understand what is working or what is not. Therapists typically recommend meeting less frequently once there is an improvement in functioning and reduction in presenting symptoms. 

 

When you’re working with a Simi Valley therapist, you can take control of your life to create lasting change. Be sure to read our blog to help you understand whether you should start individual therapy or couples counseling in Simi Valley.

 

Your life story takes time to properly unfold

Therapy sessions are usually around an hour long and are held once a week. Within the first few sessions, your therapist will want to get to know you better and build rapport. They’ll want to understand the different facets of your life, such as with school, work, self-care, or relationships. Most importantly, however, they’ll want to gather as much information as possible about your mental health history. What symptoms are you presenting with, how intense are they, how long have you experienced them?

 

You’re coming into therapy to address anxiety. You experience overthinking, people pleasing, and catastrophize things on a regular basis. It’ll be important for your therapist to understand how your symptoms unfold in different situations, relationships, or environments. By checking with the history, they can make connections to your present functioning.

 

We are shaped by the countless experiences we have as we navigate through life. It takes time to build insight into the connections from our past to our present functioning.

 

It’s possible that you aren’t interested in being an open book with your therapist. You want to come in to address, say, insomnia that keeps you up at night, and nothing more. Deep down, your story may feel complicated. There are things you don’t want to explain or re-live. However, our trauma-informed therapists in Simi Valley know exactly how to navigate these situations with you.

 

Even if there are aspects of your past that you don’t want to dive into, you can expect your therapist to be curious at times. Therapy isn’t about fixing you, it’s about gaining a deeper understanding. If your goal is to make change in your present life, it’s important to consider reflecting upon the past.

 

Therefore, it can take time to cultivate a trusting, open relationship with your therapist. Confiding in someone feels good, and it may not be something you do often. Being vulnerable is scary, and facing difficult issues can be scary as well. Consider reading our blog on how our therapists process trauma with their patients. 

 

Consistency helps you work on both past and present stressors

As discussed above, consistency helps you work on both past and present stressors. Let’s say that you’re coming into therapy to address struggles with trauma, depression, and relationship issues. Sharing just a part of your past story can take up nearly a whole session. So, if you’re only meeting once every few weeks, it can be difficult to discuss present issues. 

 

However, your therapist is skilled in being able to navigate conversations. They can ask questions, gather more information, and promote you to build more insight into things. Having a good mix of the past and present stressors can help them guide you most effectively. They can therefore jump between these time periods of your life to help you in achieving your therapeutic goals.

 

On the contrary, if you are only discussing present issues, it can be difficult to tie it back to your past. We want to understand where behaviors or thought patterns stem from. When we can better understand connections, we can use that information to influence our present behavior and thought patterns. 

 

With all of this in mind, attending therapy weekly to start is a good plan. How long you should attend therapy weekly is dependent upon your therapist’s clinical judgment, and is always up for discussion. Our therapists in Simi Valley are intent in having you improve to where you can come every other week or even monthly when appropriate. 

 

Weekly therapy is more effective for tracking symptoms or progress towards goals

It’s understandable that you are coming to therapy ready to process years of unresolved issues. You’re motivated, yet nervous to begin this process. While it sounds like a great idea to start unpacking past trauma or stressors, it also feels overwhelming. It’s common that when we start to get into the nitty gritty of things, we can feel more emotionally activated. 

 

Let’s say, for example, that you’re coming into therapy to address childhood trauma. Talking about the subject is difficult and you find yourself feeling triggered, anxious, or frustrated after your sessions. It’s understandable that this may cause you to feel adverse to attending therapy regularly. 

 

At least for the beginning, this is where the seeds are getting planted for the work you can begin doing outside of therapy. You and your therapist recognize major stressors, effective coping mechanisms, and create goals to work towards. 

 

It can be difficult to track progress towards goals if we aren’t consistently looking at what’s working and what isn’t. You and your therapist may collaborate to come up with daily goals, weekly goals, or overall goals. Each week you’ll check in about how things are going, which benefits your therapeutic experience and relationship.

 

Make sure to check out one of our blogs on how to be vulnerable! Receiving therapy near Thousand Oaks is a great step to take towards improving your mental health.

 

Let me say this to you – it’s okay to take breaks from therapy. 

 

It can get all too real sometimes and truly feel overwhelming. When I was faced with a painful truth for the first time, it felt like the wound had burst open and got salt dumped in it. In addition, it’s okay to not focus on healing all the time. Take a week off therapy, and use that time to do something soothing for yourself. Healing is a non-linear, complex process; so take time to reflect on what you’re doing right. 

 

If you’re only focused on what you’re doing wrong or what you need to change, you’re not giving yourself the credit you deserve for things going well! Therapy doesn’t have to be all about change and growth – it can be about celebrating your wins, too. 

 

When you’re working with a Simi Valley therapist, you’ll know that they are rooting for you to meet your goals and create meaningful change in your life. Consider reading our blog on how long you should be in therapy next!

 

After reading this blog, how do you feel about attending therapy on a weekly basis to begin? Are there outstanding concerns around availability, finances, or good fit? Don’t hesitate to give us a call for a free consultation on therapy in Simi Valley, Ca. 

In-person therapy in Simi Valley is ideal for those seeking a separate, safe space from their home. Check out our blog on Online Therapy or In Office Therapy to understand what format is best for you. Another great blog to read is ours on if you need Therapy or Medication to address your issues.

 

By seeking out support, you can begin your journey to feeling relief. You don’t have to go through finding the right level of support alone, either. By clicking here, you’ll read our blog on Information About Simi Valley Therapists.

 

Consider calling our therapy group at (805) 774-1506 for a free consultation on how you or a loved one can get started today!

 

Seek out a validating, safe environment with us today. We will help you get to where you want to be. Our therapists provide trauma therapy, teen therapy, individual adult therapy, LGBTQIA+ therapy, anxiety therapy, depression therapy, family therapy, and more in-office in Simi Valley, CA.