When should I be done therapy?

I am unsure when I should be done therapy, as it seems a lot of places (free ones anyways) only offer 10-12 sessions, and then you can't go anymore, because they expect you to be done, but I don't know. I still feel like I have a lot to work on and I've been in therapy for about 5 years now. I feel like I am in a battle with a different beast than before (depression now, instead of bad (mainly social) anxiety). So I just don't know. A lot of the time I feel like I don't know what to say or what to do in therapy.

Healing takes much time. Only you can judge.

When the professional fired you as a patient.

That may have been your experience but seems incredibly unhelpful, and not at all what the OP was asking

Free therapy? Didn't know it existed. Is it any good? Are they social workers?

Some workplaces have Employee Assistance Programs which offer certain things like legal assistance, adoption assistance, as well as counseling. It offers 10 free sessions (well "free" in the sense that the employer pays for the assistance program) and, after these free sessions are exhausted, the therapist will evaluate if you're in need of further counseling, in which case they will refer you to another therapist covered by your insurance.

Everywhere I've worked has had EAP, and I've used it a few times. Once, I just needed the 10 sessions to get through some work and school stress I was dealing with, and I found that the worksheets provided were enough to help me manage after the 10 sessions. The other time, the sessions were able to parlay into several more years with another therapist.

Edit: yes, they are qualified therapists. I actually wanted to continue seeing one of mine but he didn't take on clients in that capacity.

If you feel like you need to talk to a therapist for whatever reason, then you need to.

That’s all I go by.

The question you raise about being done in therapy can be answered by another question..... how long is a piece of string? There are so many factors and variables including the diagnoses and capacities that a person has.

My thoughts on the the places that offer 10-12 free sessions are only able to do that because they they have a fast turn over. Expecting you to be fixed after that is fine for some situations and but would not be reasonable for complex issues.

My T is of the opinion that he is there to do himself out of a job. Meaning that he works with a client to get them to a point where the client is able to deal with things in a way that has better outcomes.

Have you ever considered doing a course in DBT? It will give you more practical solutions to angst and self soothing.

Yes. Every type of therapy I have done was free. I saw two social workers - one in high school and another at a hospital. I will note that I'm in Canada, and many of this was covered by our health care plan. I also saw a therapist in a hospital. Paid by government. I did see a child and youth worker in high school too, which is paid for by the school, which is paid for by the government.

Now I see a therapist at my school, which is paid for with my tuition money, which is a lot, so, technically I am paying for therapy.

I say that it depends on the person. Some I have experienced are good and others aren't. It's the same as paid therapy. It just depends.

All the pdocs I have seen are free, as any MD in Canada has standard rate that the government pay for.

Yes, thank you for your response. I was reading today about this topic, and they were talking about how many factors influence the need for therapy, and I have a lot of things it seems.

I have been told I should do DBT, but I have not found (and really haven't looked) a free therapist who does this. My current one doesn't do DBT. My pdoc told me that I should do DBT but that there was a paying group in the area. It's unfortunate for me that my insurance only covers $500 to see a psychologist or social worker, and that is normally like 3 sessions I would say, depends on the place, but i know many can cost like $200 per session. It's a sad truth. I might try to get a workbook and do some things on my own.

Where I live in Australia there are free group dbt courses that run once a week basis over a year or sometimes two. It is a huge commitment and if you miss the allotted number of sessions then you cannot graduate from that module and get to do it all again.

There are other insurance covered ones that means not only do you need to attend each session but you will also be allocated a one on one session with a psychologist. These are part of a day program that is linked to a psych clinic/hospital. I wonder if Canada might have these also?

I think that by spending this much time involved in with this topic a person will learn things even if it is only by osmosis....

I wish we had those here in the States. I attempted to do DBT but even with decent insurance it just got to be too expensive. My copay was $30 each time I went, and I was supposed to go 3x/week, plus my normal therapy. So that was $120/week. Totally undoable. It was basically like paying another two car payments every month or something.

That is stupidly expensive. Three times a week and therapy on top of that . I think that sounds like a very brutal emotional torture. Don't think I could cope with that.