how long have you been in therapy?

Just wondering how long others have been in therapy and how often you see your therapists.

((cmac13)
I've been in therapy for about 9 months now. I started last summer when I graduated from college. I wonder if it's the best or worst thing I could have done( starting too early in my life). However my T is wonderful and I'm so happy that I get to share so much with her.
What about you?

Three and a half months since I started seeing T. I see her once a week.

I've been in therapy for about 16 mos now, and see her once a week until my insurance runs out, and then every other week until the end of the year. I truly didn't think I'd be in therapy this long....or the fact that I know I have much more work to do! Sucks.

i first saw someone when i was 16, and stopped with her a few months later.

then i got to uni, saw a few counsellors for one-off sessions (usually around assessment time) until one of my lecturers kindly told me that he thought a psychiatrist might be able to help more.

so i trundled off to a psychiatrist, and have been seeing pdoc for 4 years now. for the past 2 years i have also been seeing a psychologist, but i changed Ts at the beginning of the year.

i didnt think things would take so long either, but im glad i have pdoc who is patient and willing to work with me no matter how long it takes.

I have seen mine for 2 yrs and 8 mos. We used to see each other weekly, but this year we have been mostly every other week.

The end of this month it will be two years. Mostly bimonthly appointments. Seems like a lot, but then I think technically I've only met her...like 25 times. :-\

Just 7 weeks for me, but I see it going for awhile - maybe a year, maybe more. I see my T once a week.

It'll be a year in September.
I see her every week, but sometimes every 2 weeks - but that's pretty rare

6yrs this September.

I've been seeing T for 19 months, twice a week. I'm about to go down to three appointments every 2 weeks (twice a week one week, once a week the next) due to scheduling issues.

I never thought I'd be seeing T for this long - I thought I would go to the 30 appointments provided by my insurance and be done (lololol!). Now I see that I have quite a way to go....

Previous T I saw on and off over a long period, mostly at two 90 minute sessions per week.

Many years later I am seeing current T for some touch up stuff. I've been seeing her for about 6 months, and will see her for a maximum of 24 sessions all up. I think we have about 8 sessions left.

Been seeing T (my first ever) for about 8 months now...I see her once a week. My progress is slower than I thought it would be. I actually hadnt noticed I made any progress at all until last week when T told me

and on the eigth day (after creating everything) god made stumpy go to therapy.

Yeah...that sounds about the right amount of time....but i'm ancient with ancient issues! first time was for about 8 years with the totally unprofessional, unethical t...didn't know she was damaging me and i was caught up in a web between her and a dr that wasn't really helping me either...they fed off of each other...not a pretty thing.

now i've been going for 3 years...once a week for a doube session with an incredible t. probably go until the end of time...but remember i've got those ancient issues....and i've got my peeps...each one of them has ancient issues...i'm just happy they each don't want their own t...how confusing would that be?!!

stumpy

I've been in therapy for about 15 years, total, with 4 different Ts. There was a break of 10 years before I started seeing my current T, whom I saw for about 6 years. I used to see them all weekly. Now I see my T "as needed." My formal termination with her was about 1 year ago.

When I started therapy, I thought it was going to be like an advice column. I would ask questions and get answers. Boy, was I naive about therapy! Once I got into it, I never wanted it to end, though. It doesn't seem like 6 years at all. Therapy is a slow process.

And then came Day 9 . . . Blossom's turn.

I go twice a month for an hour. I have actually been thinking of going just once a month, you know, for a tune-up.

I used to think me being in therapy for such a long time was a bad thing. Now I realize it's actually a good thing. It's kinda like my own weird version of a 12 step program, and T is my sponsor.

You don't ever reach a point in AA where they tell you they've done everything they can for you and now you're on your own . . . why should T be any different?

P.S. I originally planned on needing three months. I also tried to learn how to do "therapy" so she couldn't pull any wool over my eyes.

This time? I've been in therapy on and off for my entire adulthood. But this time, with this psychologist has been a bit over 4 years. I generally see him once a week, but it varies with what is going on.

12 years with same wonderful T. When I started I thought I'd do therapy for a year max to work through some problems I was having at work. WRONG. My told me recently that she had trouble keeping a straight face the first time when I told her I was thinking I'd need about a year of therapy after she'd taken my history. I see her once a week for 50 minutes except for when she or I are out of town for some reasson. LOL if I didn't have to pay for T (my insurance doesn't cover any of it) I'd own my own house by now.

Been seeing pdocs for I guess about 8 years after T insisted I needed more help - boy was I resistant. Therapy was ok, but to me a pdoc meant you were crazy. First one was a disaster, but I've been seeing my current one now for 5 years and she's lovely. I see her about every 6 - 8 weeks for meds management and a hour discussion of how I'm doing.

I also have an addictions T who I see weekly for group therapy and privatley about every 4-5 weeks.

I look at it now like it took me a long time 38 years precisely before I started T to get this messed up it's going to take a long time to unlearn all those negative self destructive patterns.

--splitimage

appx 18 months and about every 3 wks.

Someone remarkd that it goes slowly, wow it sure does. And I am impatient sometimes. But T says it's not a straight line kind of thing; you go this far, then circle back, then go forward, and then circle back; not in the sense of taking a step backward, but more of including the whole background into the move that goes into present and future.

true I am impatient sometimes but I am so grateful to have this experience (and growth!) and I don't know what I would have done without it....

I've been in and out of therapy for the past 20 years. The last psychiatrist I had saw me once two years ago, adjusted my meds, then sent me back to my occupational therapist, who provides a sympathetic ear but not much else. I've been in short term programs over the last year as well, including a 6-week day treatment program and a 12-session CBT program.

I been in therapy for 5 years. 2 with current T, but we are ending in July because I am moving. I got twice a week. I'm sure I will start with a new one when I move.

I just asked the question because i have been with my one and only therapist for 17 years. I began with twice a week sessions then it got to be once a month for a long period of time, but due to circumstances in my life currently I see her once a week now. I am blessed to have worked with the same person for so long. She has helped parts of me to "grow up" - I still have a ways to go and she says she will not abandon me. I am lucky to have a supportive husband and insurance that covers some of it.

I've been in therapy for 10 years and go 1 time per week. I didn't start therapy until mid-life when i suffered a major breakdown into clinical depression. Went to therapy for treatment with that and realized over time that I have alot more than depression, including GAD, Complex PTSD, and most likely DDNOS.

Three years and 9 months, once a week.

I have been in T for 19 months, same as Treehouse! I'm thinking now that back then I had no idea what I got myself into. At that time my only experience with therapy was CBT. I did exposure therapy for a big T trauma. It didn't end well. I changed Ts, went to see three different ones. My current T is the only one who didn't grill me with questions on the first session. He just let me be and go at my own pace. Later I discovered he was a psychoanalytic T who also does psychoanalysis. I found out what that meant while in therapy. I went into this process blind but I have stuck it out. If I had to do it again, I would do more research first.