I would say expect longer with the therapy than shorter.


I've been in therapy around 15 years total (including from when I was an adolescent). But the majority of that was stabilization. I've experienced the most growth (and stability) in the past year, and most of that framework that has been successful for me this past year was with my Pastor who is a licensed Marriage Family Therapist. I don't see him anymore but this growth that I've been having is attributed to him, not my current therapist.


I'm not saying your daughter needs 15 years of therapy. I have a pretty difficult condition to manage and I wasn't on the right medications for a long time. Once I was on the right antipsychotic that really made a difference. Before I was just on anti depressants and they helped but not enough.

Medication is another thing to consider. Your daughter can start with a GP but I would strongly consider a psychiatrist. They are doctors who have special training for the brain meds. In fact the one I see is a neurologist psychiatrist. So he's been helpful with my migraines too.


There are pros and cons to a gap year. One thing is routine. School and school work does provide structure and routine. But if the grades are going to go down so far as to jeopardize further graduate level studies a gap year may be the best thing.


There's a thread right now on the psychotherapy forum that is asking about things instead of therapy. This might be helpful to look at for in addition to therapy for your daughter. For a while I had a case manager and she managed my care among all my providers. She also encouraged me to go to support groups and exercise and stuff like that. The "whole body/whole spirit" approach.


It's a good sign that your daughter is optimistic about therapy. It's hard to find a good therapist that one "clicks" with. So if she has, that's great. Because rapport means more often than the degree the therapist has. There's a saying in therapy which is, these problems didn't develop overnight and they aren't going to go away overnight. So give her time to work through stuff.


PM me anytime.

Best wishes--Kit