How Long Will it Take?
Several things can influence what length of therapy will suit you best. These include:
The length of time that you have been having difficulties
The degree of change that you need to achieve
Your level of self confidence
How well the type of therapy used matches your personal learning style
Ultimately, I believe, you will know when you no longer need therapy because you will have achieved the changes you wanted. To give you some indication of the possibilities for engaging a therapist, I describe below some different ways that clients have used my services.
Brief Contracts
One meeting may be enough to find a solution to a problem.
Short or Medium Contracts
To gain understanding of a specific problem and identify some ways to deal with it, 3-6 sessions can be useful.
To develop a range of solutions and address your probelms with the benefit of ongoing support while you experiment and practice, 8-12 sessions can be helpful.
If the problem is longstanding or there are several problems which need tackling, 24 sessions or more may be more appropriate.
These contracts are all flexible. If you are not sure in the begnining, which kind of contract you need, as the work progresses, you will get a better sense of which type of contract suits you best.
Flexible Contracts
You can use therapy to address a particular issue, then go away and test out its effectiveness. If you find it has helped, you may want to come back for another contract to tackle another aspect of life that you would like to improve.
Open Ended Contracts
You may want to develop a stronger sense of self and explore a number of difficulties and/or you may just prefer the idea of an open ended contract. This way, you can end therapy when you feel ready.
How Will I Know What Kind of Contract Will Suit Me?
At every first meeting with you, I discuss what you hope to achieve and what length of time you would like to spend addressing the issue (if you know this). If you want to set a finite number of sessions but are not sure how many to choose, I can make recommendations for you. Sometimes it is not possible in the first session to identify when, exactly, you will be able to make the changes you want. In such instances I often suggest we review the work regularly. This allows you time to become familiar with my approach and for us both to obtain a better idea of how long you might need to implement the changes you want.