Is therapy once a week effective?

First, evidence-based research studies generally show an association between weekly psychotherapy sessions and positive outcomes for clients. This seems to be especially important in the first stage of therapy, when you establish a good relationship with the therapist and begin to understand the nitty-gritty of things. Sometimes when clients start therapy, they suggest meeting every other week, or sometimes even once a month. This is often due to financial or time restrictions.

There's no doubt that it's an overwhelming idea to make the kind of financial and time commitment that therapy requires, especially if you've never been in therapy before. Entering psychotherapy is one of the most impactful steps we can take to transform our lives. While it's well worth the investment, it's surely hard to trust that without prior experience. A weekly session is a good starting point for starting therapy.

Usually, most patients will start at this frequency and then increase or decrease as needed. A weekly session is ideal for people who want to develop skills related to aspects such as mindfulness, self-improvement and communication. As it is weekly, it will be recent enough to maintain the continuity of the session. If there is longer time between sessions, there is a risk of continuity problems, since what was discussed may be difficult to remember to a certain extent, and the flow of conversation and therapy may be slightly altered, affecting the relationship.

There may be times when you want to cancel a scheduled appointment with your therapist because things are too difficult for you. That's okay as long as you give your therapist the pre-agreed notice. Late cancellations can result in cancellation fees with most therapists. Because therapy has both maternal and parental elements, clients may sometimes worry that the therapist will respond to the desire to end therapy as a rejection of the therapist and its usefulness.