[jazzy123456]

Please comment the longest amount of time you have ever been in therapy...

Next comment the shortest amount of time you have ever been in therapy...

I am trying to figure out an average amount of time someone might go to therapy.

I would appreciate any sort of comments below!
It would help my therapy journey- which I guess ended 3 months ago.
Even though I did therapy off and on- taking long breaks in summers- for about 5 years.
Thanks so much!

P.S. I'd say- I partially ended therapy because I thought it was important to learn and remember how to DEAL with life without someone to check in with all the time... I had been doing that for so long... I thought it was important that I reclaim a bit of my independence again.

Secondly- money reasons.

and

Lastly- She said I needed to go to outpatient treatment for an eating disorder in order for her to actually help me and take medicine-
and uh-- I don't want to go. So, yeah. Hope those were valid reasons to end it. Who knows?

I really am in a moment though- where I wish I could vent to my T. Trying to stay STRONG. It's hard to let go of something you've done for years.

[substancelessblue]

I've been in therapy for 16 months. This is my first time.
I'm sorry you're going through difficulties. I understand the independence reason. But sometimes I think that's why therapy can work well, because we have someone to check in with. I can't see myself ever ending which is a really scary thought. It's scary to stay in therapy and also scary the idea of ending it! So I admire you. Do you have enough of a support network though? Sounds like your T was trying to get the best care for you by recommending outpatient treatment.

[Bells129]

Longest - Four Years (still going on)
Shortest- One session.

There's nothing wrong with having someone to check in with every now and then if it helps you, it doesn't make you any less independent, but that's your call. Good luck with whatever you decide.

11yrs and still going.
I adore what therapy gives me.
The unconscious doesn't work the same way as our conscious, it doesn't count 'time'.

[harvest moon]

I've only been in therapy once, with my current T, and it will be 5 years soon.

[coolibrarian]

I've been in therapy, with my T, since 1989. We did have a break of about 15 months, but then I went back. It's fine if you want to determine an average number of years that people have therapy, but it's not realistic, in my opinion. Everyone is different, has different issues, etc., so some people may have shorter time periods in therapy than others. I have felt judged by some people because I've been in therapy so long, but the problems didn't happen overnight, so they can't be solved overnight, and I have also been depressed since 1965, though not diagnosed until 1988.

[jazzy123456]

Thank you everyone! Substancelessblue...I probably don't have much support when it comes to mental health. I have support in other areas of my life though.

Cherbiej- I probably judge myself for it more than others do. I understand where you're coming from.

[sweepy62]

T1 1 yr 3 mos she left for another job in the middle of our therapy.

T2 1 yr 2 mos left in middle of trauma work for another job.

T3 currently seeing almost 6 mos.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cosmic.yiana]

T1 I was 16 forced there for cutting myself lasted a month.

T2 I stayed with her around a year before I moved out of town for about 5 years.

T3 I saw him for a few months before I moved back to town. Would've stayed with him, had I not moved.

T2 Went back to her when I moved back for 6 months. I had alot of trauma I wanted to work on and she treated it like we were just friends.

T4 1yr 4 mos. We've been doing trauma work. He's a caring and knowledgeable therapist who I trust and respect. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see him anymore.

Longest: 2 yrs
Shortest: 20 minutes

With the 20 minute one, it was a Jungian analyst. After some initial stuff, I shared a dream that I'd had the night before that felt significant. She said maybe one sentence in reply, and it was so on target that I got scared and walked out. I wasn't ready. I tried Jungian analysis again later on and lasted a couple months but just couldn't hack it. He was very good, though.

[cosmic.yiana]

Licketysplit, I always wondered what that would be like. I've read a few of Jung's works. I also did a research paper on him. What was it like? Not to hijack this thread.

comsic.yiana, It's intense. Jungian analysts go through years of training and supervision, plus their own analysis, so they really have their stuff together, are very bright and present. I had studied Jungian theory in undergrad and understood the basic principles, so I knew the approach going into it would be to look at unconscious material and bring it into consciousness.

In Jungian analysis, they talk about big dreams, which doesn't refer to the length or complexity so much as its importance, like the one I took to the analyst in the appt that lasted only 20 minutes. A big dream does not have to be complicated or long. That particular one, in fact, was very short, but I knew from the symbolism that it was big, so that's why I took it.

One interesting experience I had with the other analyst was a dream I took, and my reactions to it which were very strong. The analyst asked me if I had a twin that died because what I had described was a twin dream. I said that no, not to my knowledge, but I asked my mom and she (in her usual evasive way) did not discount it. When she was pregnant with me, my father had pressed her to do things that would cause a miscarriage, but unlucky me, it did not work. I can't adequately explain the experience of this particular process, but it was very deep and difficult. Through it all, the analyst was just remarkably attuned, spoke when it was necessary, but much of the work was happening in and through me (if that makes sense).

I was also going through a very stressful time and had a particular delusion that I knew wasn't real because it was so bizarre, but at times it felt real and was making me afraid to be around a particular situation. I finally told him about it and he said that delusions are great and that, to a Jungian, they are gold. So he made use of things that other professionals would see as pathological and turned them into useful tools.

I saw a couple others, not analysts, but therapists who said they used Jungian theory. One was very good, but I was too shut down by previous bad therapy to stick with it. The other was certifiable. I would be very careful with anyone who is not a genuine Jungian analyst who practices that theory (although some can do it, you just have to be careful).

I'm not sure if this totally answers your question. It is very deep work. Unlike any other type of psychotherapy.

[BlessedRhiannon]

With my current therapist - going on a little over 5 years.

I met one therapist for 1 session - that was after a gap of about 3 years from a previous T, and then that one session was followed by a gap of several months before I found my current T. The t I saw for 1 session was just a whack-job and I left shaking my head at her.

I had two T's previously which I saw for about a year and a half each - I quit seeing one because she decided to close her practice (with almost no notice, so it was a bit traumatic) and the other because she just quit being helpful and I didn't connect well with her.

[pmbm]

Longest-10 years.
Shortest-1session

[Gavinandnikki]

longest = 5 1/2 years 3-4x/week psychoanalysis

shortest = 3 months of 2x/week talk therapy for severe PPD