I have been thinking about this a good bit, and I wish I could say that I had a real reply but here goes (as far as it goes) in my first 9 months or so, i think they were all pretty much wasted sessions; no trust on my part, no connect between us, i think both of us were miserable. then finally we took a new direction, going into the long ago past, and it seems that even when I think we are doing lousy, there seems to be good going on that I don't recognize, so I apparently can't tell when the time is wasted..........
You are right, after a break is hard though.
Even the usual space between sessions (3-4 wks) is lhard, it feels like break after break. It's hard to carry things that far. but that's the timeframe I have to work with for now.