[CantExplain]

Somehow I got the impression that the hardest part of therapy was getting started. Once you've made some progress and gained some trust in both the process and the therapist, you should move quicker. Or so I thought.

Was that true for you?

[stopdog]

I have found a use for the woman, but therapy has had no effect upon the reason that caused me to start.

[pbutton]

For me it depends upon the topic. Anything with a CBT therapy component tends to go quickly. Panic attacks, facing down anxiety/phobias, countering the agoraphobia - those were all relatively quick adjustments with big payoffs.

CSA/trauma and interpersonal relationship stuff? Much slower and harder to track. Overall forward movement progression, but not necessarily in a straight trajectory. The topics tend to come up, get replaced by something else, later come up again in a different way, regress, surface another time to address a different component. More cycles through the same topics.

The behavioral stuff comes back up every now and again, but it is always weaker and less of an issue each time it makes an appearance. My skills are now stronger than my anxiety. CBT has saved my life.

[brillskep]

Since I have more objectives of different levels of depth in my therapy, I wish there were an option for Other. I felt like therapy accelerated my progress as opposed to my work with myself without a therapist, definitely! However, some things I was able to start changing in a few months or even a session or two, while with some others I still have a long way to go even after 5 years. So I can't really give an answer, but I don't want or need therapy to accelerate my progress. As long as I'm safe, I can take my time.

[justdesserts]

I've found how fast I progress in therapy depends mostly on ME and how hard I am a working and how well I'm dealing with the emotions therapy is bringing up.

[stopchewinggum]

I have "bursts" of progress. Some months I improve a lot. Some not so much.

It depends on how often you go too.

Originally Posted by _Mouse

It depends on how often you go too.

Do you think there is more progress if you go more often?

[nervous puppy]

Originally Posted by Brown Owl

Do you think there is more progress if you go more often?

I find that to be true only because it keeps me focused on a goal or goals. If there is too long a period between sessions, I start to lose interest, and I don't want to go.

Originally Posted by Brown Owl

Do you think there is more progress if you go more often?

Yes. I go Monday. Stuff solidifys or comes up from that session and than I go again Friday where it can be worked on in its immediacy
If say I went once a fortnight, the immediacy isn't there. It's tougher to tease out the unconscious.

[CantExplain]

Originally Posted by stopdog

I have found a use for the woman, but therapy has had no effect upon the reason that caused me to start.

What was the reason that caused you to start?

I chose to do 500-600 hours in eighteen months, so for me therapy from beginning to end was extremely accelerated.

[CantExplain]

Originally Posted by therapyworked4me

I chose to do 500-600 hours in eighteen months, so for me therapy from beginning to end was extremely accelerated.

That's a lot!
Were you making progress faster or slower towards the end?

[Gavinandnikki]

Originally Posted by CantExplain

Somehow I got the impression that the hardest part of therapy was getting started. Once you've made some progress and gained some trust in both the process and the therapist, you should move quicker. Or so I thought.

Was that true for you?

Not true for me.
The more I became embedded in the transference, the less I felt I gained any true benefits.

Originally Posted by CantExplain

That's a lot!
Were you making progress faster or slower towards the end?

Towards the end (~60/hours) I was making the biggest progress because I was exposing myself to more risk on a daily basis. My body no longer lie in a supine position on my sofa on a daily basis. I had faced most all that needed to be faced in therapy. Some I faced successfully and needed no more attention in therapy, and others I was working on and still am working on. Things are going well; no more days of beating myself up or wanting to be dead because life is to hard. Because of good therapy I finally have a foundation that allows me to get through the hurt and pain that may come my way. And, many things that pushed me into the abyss before no longer faze me. I had to make a choice to trust another therapist and it was not easy decision. I envy no one who has this trust issue on their plate in therapy. My heart goes out to all.

[justdesserts]

Originally Posted by Brown Owl

Do you think there is more progress if you go more often?

It does for me, but it also brings up a lot more stuff. I've built a better relationship with my therapist by going more often, which has helped us work through things, too.