After a few weeks, a few months, or a year, you may be thinking, ‘Why am I not better already?’ Why do I still need therapy? It is frustrating to feel you have not made as much progress as you had hoped for. Naturally, we all want to feel in control, whole, and safe, without anything getting in the way of us feeling and doing what we wish. It is okay to acknowledge these feelings within and outside the therapeutic space. Sometimes it can feel uncomfortable for a person coming to therapy, especially when their difficulty with people-pleasing or effective communication is challenged, suggesting impatience.
Other parts of yourself, your experiences, thought processes, emotions, or behaviors may pose new challenges that may need to be addressed, resulting in a different process than what you may have thought of when things started. Sometimes, circumstances are beyond our control, including relationships, current events, triggering situations, and changes in plans. Things may trigger us to revert to maladaptive or unhelpful coping mechanisms. Sometimes, going deeper into root issues to understand why we may be behaving similarly or having recurring challenges. It can be uncomfortable, and resistance may come up, inhibiting us from reaching the goals we set, leading to other uncomfortable challenges recurring. There could even be resistance showing up to therapy, challenging resistance, and increasing motivation to make progress can look different for everyone in a therapeutic setting.
What does progress look like?
Progress could look like coming to therapy consistently, increased vulnerability, less severity of extreme emotions or behaviors, control around substance use, improved communication in interpersonal relationships, uncovering past trauma, or any other goal or milestone you are working towards. Progress can increase mindfulness and understanding of what is happening within us, allowing us to be more aware of how our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors interact. Progress can be incremental or more drastic; for each person, it looks a bit different. It is hard to determine how one person’s progress may look just by starting therapy. Checking in at the start of the session is not only a way to begin the process and bring the client and therapist into the session, but also to continuously gauge the client’s progress, awareness, and mental well-being to continue the work.
There are many questionnaires, diagnoses, therapeutic tools, and therapeutic methods used to assess and determine how to help each individual with the various challenges they may be facing. These can be used to assess progress, for instance, by using a therapeutic tool to measure anxiety at intake, and then, months to years into treatment, to provide a quantitative assessment. Standardized progress measures like these can be helpful for both the client and the therapist in progress monitoring.
Sometimes it is difficult to acknowledge the progress we have made, even as we feel still overwhelmed by what lies ahead. One may only recall what is still challenging for them rather than the progress they have actually made. Having a discussion around progress, reflecting on how you may have been feeling a few months ago, a year ago, a few years ago, or before starting therapy, can help you acknowledge all the improvement you have made.
Goals reached and goals in progress
Treatment plans are created by therapists for their clients to guide their treatment and assess their progress. The discussion around shared goals, challenging how and why to tackle the problems the individual faces in their day-to-day life, can happen throughout the therapeutic process. When reaching one goal, another goal may be set or appear. While finding fulfillment in achieving one goal, having another to reach may feel discouraging or overwhelming. Life is constantly changing for each of us, whether we like it or not, we too must evolve to these changes. When we reach one goal and set another, we do not need to negate the progress we have made; rather, we should continue on the path of betterment and self-improvement.
For some, reaching therapeutic goals could influence the frequency of sessions or the topics discussed. Psychotherapy takes patience and hard work; it is not easy to be vulnerable, to challenge our patterns, to uncover painful moments in our past, or fears of the future. Showing up to therapy is difficult; it is okay to notice impatience with the process and to think about how to continue the momentum towards mental peace.
Coping skills
Sometimes the hardest work happens outside of the session. Sessions may be 45 minutes to one hour of your week; you are living with these challenges the other 167 hours of the week. In each session, you likely will begin by checking in on how the day is going, how you feel this week, and progress towards goals. Have there been any challenges practicing skills or working towards goals? Thinking about how to use your time outside of session can be difficult. You may be confronted with triggering events, interpersonal challenges, dysregulated emotions, and other uncontrollable situations that make you feel less in control than you had hoped for, as you prepare for your week, day, or whatever lies ahead.
Sometimes the work outside of session may be reflecting on your goals, getting to therapy early so you have a clear headspace to dive back into the work, or maintaining self-care and getting enough rest and nourishment throughout the week. You may be learning new skills and practicing them but not be sure if they are working or what they do. To learn more about coping skills, please check out this blog.
Have a conversation with your therapist! It is okay to acknowledge your feelings about the therapeutic process. Therapy can be uncomfortable at times, unearthing parts of yourself and memories you would rather keep out of sight and mind. Talking through what you are feeling can open up a dialogue
We all come to therapy with different goals, expectations, and ideas on how we want to navigate the process. Oftentimes, that goal aligns with feeling better, regulating emotions and thoughts, improving interpersonal relationships, and gaining confidence and control. These goals and ideas that therapy can be curative of whatever we may be facing internally can be exciting and hopeful to us when we are struggling. While therapy is proven to be helpful, life-changing, and a research-based way to manage our mental health, process grief and trauma, sometimes progress is not always what we expect.
After a few weeks, a few months, or a year, you may be thinking, ‘Why am I not better already?’ Why do I still need therapy? It is frustrating to feel you have not made as much progress as you had hoped for. Naturally, we all want to feel in control, whole, and safe, without anything getting in the way of us feeling and doing what we wish. It is okay to acknowledge these feelings within and outside the therapeutic space. Sometimes it can feel uncomfortable for a person coming to therapy, challenging their difficulty with people-pleasing or effective communication, and suggesting that there is impatience.
Other parts of yourself, your experiences, thought processes, emotions, or behaviors may pose new challenges that may need to be addressed, resulting in a different process than what you may have thought of when things started. Sometimes, circumstances are beyond our control, including relationships, current events, triggering situations, and changes in plans. Things may trigger us to revert to maladaptive or unhelpful coping mechanisms. Sometimes, going deeper into root issues to understand why we may be behaving in the same ways or having similar recurring challenges. It can be uncomfortable, and resistance may come up, inhibiting us from reaching the goals we set, leading to other uncomfortable challenges recurring. There could even be resistance showing up to therapy, challenging resistance, and increasing motivation to make progress can look different for everyone in a therapeutic setting.
What does progress look like?
Progress could look like coming to therapy consistently, increased vulnerability, less severity of extreme emotions or behaviors, control around substance use, improved communication in interpersonal relationships, uncovering past trauma, or any other goal or milestone you are working towards. Progress can increase mindfulness and understanding of what is happening within us, allowing us to be more aware of how our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors interact. Progress can be incremental or more drastic; for each person, it looks a bit different. It is hard to determine how one person’s progress may look just by starting therapy. Checking in at the start of the session is not only a way to begin the process and bring the client and therapist into the session, but also to continuously gauge the client’s progress, awareness, and mental well-being to continue the work.
There are many questionnaires, diagnoses, therapeutic tools, and therapeutic methods used to assess and determine how to help each individual with the various challenges they may be facing. These can be used to assess progress, for instance, by using a therapeutic tool to measure anxiety at intake, and then, months to years into treatment, to provide a quantitative assessment. Standardized progress measures like these can be helpful for both the client and the therapist in progress monitoring.
Sometimes it is difficult to acknowledge the progress we have made, even as we feel still overwhelmed by what lies ahead. One may only recall what is still challenging for them rather than the progress they have actually made. Having a discussion around progress, reflecting on how you may have been feeling a few months ago, a year ago, a few years ago, or before starting therapy, can help you acknowledge all the improvement you have made.
Goals reached and goals in progress
Treatment plans are created by therapists for their clients to guide their treatment and assess their progress. The discussion around shared goals, challenging how and why to tackle the problems the individual faces in their day-to-day life, can happen throughout the therapeutic process. When reaching one goal, another goal may be set or appear. While finding fulfillment in achieving one goal, having another to reach may feel discouraging or overwhelming. Life is constantly changing for each of us, whether we like it or not, we too must evolve to these changes. When we reach one goal and set another, we do not need to negate the progress we have made; rather, we should continue on the path of betterment and self-improvement.
For some, reaching therapeutic goals could influence the frequency of sessions or the topics discussed. Psychotherapy takes patience and hard work; it is not easy to be vulnerable, to challenge our patterns, to uncover painful moments in our past, or fears of the future. Showing up to therapy is difficult; it is okay to notice impatience with the process and to think about how to continue the momentum towards mental peace.
Coping skills
Sometimes the hardest work happens outside of the session. Sessions may be 45 minutes to one hour of your week; you are living with these challenges the other 167 hours of the week. In each session, you likely will begin by checking in on how the day is going, how you feel this week, and progress towards goals. Have there been any challenges practicing skills or working towards goals? Thinking about how to use your time outside of session can be difficult. You may be confronted with triggering events, interpersonal challenges, dysregulated emotions, and other uncontrollable situations that make you feel less in control than you had hoped for, as you prepare for your week, day, or whatever lies ahead.
Sometimes the work outside of session may be reflecting on your goals, getting to therapy early so you have a clear headspace to dive back into the work, or maintaining self-care and getting enough rest and nourishment throughout the week. You may be learning new skills and practicing them but not be sure if they are working or what they do. To learn more about coping skills, please check out this blog.
Have a conversation with your therapist! It is okay to acknowledge your feelings about the therapeutic process. Therapy can be uncomfortable at times, unearthing parts of yourself and memories you would rather keep out of sight and mind. Talking through what you are feeling can open up a dialogue
