Why Weekly Sessions?

From time to time, I will be asked by new clients, "Why do I need to come in weekly?" There is no magical formula and treatment will vary client by client. This is what I have found in working with clients:

1) They are usually in crisis by the time they have made their first appointment.
2) They want to feel better about the problem as soon as possible.
3) They don't want to feel like they are going to be in therapy forever.

For these reasons, I usually encourage weekly sessions until:

1) The crisis has subsided.
2) They start to feel like they have a handle on the problem.

When sessions are initially bi-weekly, clients tend to start the sessions off, and can spend up to 1/2 the time, recounting what has happened since the last session. This only gives me, as the therapist, 1/2 the session to really work with the you. Weekly sessions provide a higher level of interaction, intervention and support. Clients receive more consistency, which in turn allows them to integrate what they learn in therapy and achieve their goals faster.

It's Not My Therapy, it's Your's!

I had the most interesting conversation with another person yesterday. They asked me if I ever contacted clients 6 months after they've ended therapy to see how they are doing and if the therapy was successful. I replied, "No. I don't. If I did, then this could be seen as intrusive to the client." My answer stumped them, but it got me thinking.

Clients often ask me, "How do you handle people's problems all day long?" The short answer is, I'm not. You don't want a therapist who makes your problems their problems. Then the person you're paying good money to has lost the objectivity you probably sought after in the first place. You want a therapist who can definitely provide empathy and support, but can simultaneously maintain an emotional distance from your problem, to best help you see past the problem and begin accessing resolution.

When a therapist gets too involved with the problem, the therapy can easily shift from the client's needs to the therapist's. This isn't what you're paying the therapist for. So, in responding to the original question about my outcomes and follow-up with past clients, I remain in the position that no news is good news. If the client ever needs to return, they can call me up and make an appointment.