I think goals are adaptive as they flow and change with time. When I started my most recent bout of therapy I was in a very dark place, my anxiety had increased to unbearable levels, and I thought my world was falling apart. My immediate goal was to stop having SI and then I thought my next goal should be dealing with my anxiety which I thought triggers my depression.

My T on the other hand pretty much decided that the depression was what we needed to tackle first. I also switched meds at the same time so its not 100% clear to me if the therapy or the med change helped more. But ultimately I did discover some of the deeper rooted causes of my depression and my anxiety improved hand in hand.

As I improved my goals changed, it wasn't about relief anymore but rather wanted to change how I thought about myself and how I can "think better". I'm very prone to learned-helplessness and self-doubt so changing the way I think is a better goal for me now in the shape I'm in.

That said, I often have specific goals for each session if something is bothering me right now. But ultimately my goals have been constantly evolving from just "feeling better" to "thinking better" since I'll never have lasting improvement until I address my negative thinking habits.