How Often Should I Go To Therapy?
This question is currently a very popular topic as more people add therapy to their wellness journeys. The great part of this question, is the answer is unique to you. After working with a therapist and identifying what symptoms are currently the most difficult to navigate your therapist will probably make a clinical recommendation depending on your goals.
In therapy, the consistency in which someone comes to therapy is called the cadence. Cadence depends on many things. For example, someone who is currently early on in identifying symptoms, goals, and skills to build may be coming in on a weekly basis. This allows for a very consistent cadence of therapy to track symptoms and identify long term goals. Whereas someone who has been in therapy for a while, and feels they can manage their symptoms pretty well, but wants to continue being consistent with therapy may be coming biweekly or triweekly (every two to three weeks). There are also people who may come to therapy monthly, and identifying if that is right for you will depend on your therapists clinical recommendation.
When you are considering talking to your therapist about how your therapy cadence is, consider these questions:
Do you feel you are managing your symptoms in healthy ways at this point? Does your therapist agree?
What additional therapy goals do you have?
Are there any big life events that may become a barrier to consistent therapy? (eg. surgery, new baby, travel, etc)
Do you feel the therapist you are working with is still helping you to the level you want in a therapist?
Have you discussed your therapist’s clinical recommendations or potential goals they see could be helpful to your long term wellness?
Have there been any monetary or insurance based changes that may influence the consistency you can be in therapy?
Keep in mind, some people have multiple clinicians or wellness providers. If you are seeing multiple professionals to support your wellness journey these questions may be considered differently depending on the topics you are currently focusing on and symptoms you want to change.
Whatever you may be considering, talking to your therapist about cadence together is a great topic to review as you continue your therapy journey. Cadence can change throughout the year and throughout your time in therapy. That is why communicating about cadence is not about having a “perfect” schedule of how often you are going to therapy, and is more about how does this service support your current symptoms and goals.
Please note: All blog posts are generalized statements and should not be taken as direct clinical advice. Always consult with your personal mental health professionals regarding treatment. 