Quote:
Originally Posted by Wawrzyn
My understanding of the way therapy works is that if you have a psychological problem that you cannot solve on your own you hire a paid professional, you share your problems with him or her, he or she helps you understand how to solve your problems, and then you move on with your life and hopefully apply what you learned in therapy. The therapy itself should last only a few months. But then you have people who, by their own admission, have been working with the same therapist for as many as 3-15 years. I believe that keeping a person in therapy for so many years not only says a lot about the curative capacity of the professional but also suggests a lack of ethics on their part.
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I think it very much depends on the individual issues one has. For instance OCDs can be successfully treated in a relatively short period of time, and someone who needs support through a life changing crisis may be adequately helped by a short course of therapy as well. But there are many disorders that require a longer term of therapy, such as anorexia nervosa, DID, and BPD.
Personal history also influences the length and type of therapy required. For instance someone who has experienced a sexual assault in adulthood but otherwise has been well adjusted and trauma free will likely require shorter term therapy than someone who experienced a sexual assault but also has a long term history of childhood sexual abuse. The damage caused by ongoing childhood abuse is developmental - it pervades every aspect of a person's being. It damages self-esteem, the ability to trust, the ability to relate successfully to others, sexuality, to mention but a few things that need to be worked on in therapy. No three month course of therapy can 'fix' a lifetime of abuse.