Long term therapy, a good or bad thing?

I'm glad I glanced through the thread before looking at the article - I'm not going to bother doing that. Random opinions posing as generalisable facts about therapy, by people with no qualifications or training or experience who pretend to be experts, are not worth wasting our time on.

I've stopped reading the blogs/articles at PC, psychologytoday and similar sites. Too much stereotyping drivel without any basis in any kind of research, and often not particularly well-written either.

This article has really annoyed me. I agree with much of what has been said on this thread. I think he's made the mistake of making some very general statements about therapy when really he's talking about its efficacy in certain very specific situations.

If people who have had lots of therapy are boring to be around, maybe their therapists sucked. Or, if he finds people boring, maybe it's really the case that he finds himself boring?!

I couldn't stomach the article either. But his "About" page makes for some amusing reading. A bit of the pot calling the kettle black, if you ask me.

Seems like he could use some long-term therapy.

I only know what's been good for me, and that is long term therapy.

Me too Echoes, I posted the article because maybe people would like to read what he has to say but I don't agree with anything he says but it's good to read something that you don't believe in now and again to confirm why you believe in something so strongly. Long term has worked for me.

It's an ill-informed rant by a blowhard. Narcissistic projection all over the place. What a tool.

I hesitate to say anything...but...um...I kind of agree with him Don't stone me! Maybe it's not a blanket approach for all...he did say that serious mental illness needed long term therapy. But personally, for me, long term T ruined me. Honestly. I need to make positive steps and change things, not ruminate about my past. But that's ME, just me..and I wouldn't put that on others.

Long-term therapy isn't necessarily about ruminating about the past. And certainly not about wallowing in the past which seemed to be his assumption. That's part of what annoyed me in his piece: he was stereotyping and relaying a cartoon vision of what therapy can be.

I decided not to read the article because I think it may be triggering for me but...

I think there are good and bad points to both long term therapy and short term and it also depends on both client and therapist...so each situation is unique.

wikid - no, ruminating isn't a good thing, but I am convinced that there's no reason that that would need to be part of long-term therapy. I think that a T who allows a client to ruminate without moving forward is not doing the client a service. I'm in it for the long term, I've seen my T for a year now, and it's been a combination of understanding what it is in my past that makes me act in a self-destructive manner now, and what to do now to grow out of those actions. From time to time there's a lot of probing into hurtful memories, but a lot of the time we focus on what's going on now.

But you're right that long-term therapy can probably be damaging for some people and it's something a trained T would have to recognise.

Haha. I actually laughed reading this. Part of the reason why I am in therapy is because I don't focus on me enough, I highly doubt it will turn me into a narcissist.

I agree with ferralkitty that long-term therapy isn't necessarily about ruminating on the past. I think a good therapist will not allow talking about the past to interfere with improving in the here and now, there should be a purpose behind it, not just for the sake of.

At the end of the day, short-term therapy can suck as can long-term, a lot of it has to do with the skills of the therapist, a certain willingness and readiness on the part of the patient and the nature of the relationship that develops. He just makes huge generalizations to boost his own ego, not to enlighten, explore or inform.

Good thing for me, as CBT doesn't work for me.

thank goodness for a t with enough wisdom & patience to stretch beyond CBT and wait for me to find my own answers, even if I am slow...