When is therapy over?

I had nothing to talk about today. I *****ed about insurance. How I did surprisingly well without my husband for almost two weeks but there was lots of quiet time. I feel the meds are working and I don't need a T. If the meds work well I'll see the pdoc less. How do you know when is a good time to cut your frequency to 1x a month?

Hope the meds keep working for ya I really wanna find my right meds to I kinda have but there's gotta be better if I still feel so down...but I do still see hope which good....sounds like you have hope as well......awesome good luck

I first tried going every other week to see how that would go. It went ok, so I went to once a month. For me, slow is good.

This is probably a controversial statement from me, but... I believe there is always something to talk about. You may not have much to talk about, but there is always something.

I used to be in your shoes: I wanted to cut frequency of T visits due to "having nothing to talk about". However, I decided one day that I was going to write a semi-detailed letter to my T about my psychiatric history. I mean, why not... My T should know more about who I am and what I do so that she can help me further.

Upon writing that letter, I realized I actually had a lot of things I could talk about. I noticed that some of my *current* issues were linked to unresolved events that happened in the past etc etc.. It also made me realize that I was "hiding" a lot of things from my T that she should probably know. I just wasn't thinking about those things off the top of my head, so I never brought them up.. And some of those things were actually a really big deal. Like, I didn't actually realize that I was having severe anxiety problems until I wrote that letter. It was little anxieties here and there... and there were common triggers that I didn't piece together until I wrote that letter.

I'm not saying you have to write a letter at all. I'm just saying how I came to that realization.

I currently go on a weekly basis, but you may need only monthly.

I think when a client decides they would rather spend the money/time on something else.

I cant make a decision based on feeling good for a while, cuz i know im gonna be feeling like crap pretty soon again. So i just got on a regular schedule. Im pretty stable, but i go every week, two days in a row. I was going once a week, but i was getting too isolated and just weird during my time away from t.

I know that a lot of Ts say that the client and the therapist decide together when things are drawing to a close--mutual decision. I don't mean to be contrary, but I feel as though I was the one who decided I wanted to seek help via therapy, I looked therapists up, I called them and I interviewed them, deciding on the one that I wanted to see. Going to therapy and carrying it through was solely my decision. I feel that ending therapy or spacing sessions out or stopping immediately is MY decision. It's fine if I want to talk it through with my T, but ultimately, I'm the one paying for the service and when I feel that I don't need it anymore, I get to decide.

When I decided I'd "experienced" enough therapy, I just stopped going. Oh, I did it in a proper manner, I called my T and told her that I appreciated her assistance but I decided that I didn't need any more session. The last time I stopped going, I sent an email and let her know that I was cancelling all future sessions because I was moving. If it isn't productive anymore, I don't spend the money on it. All the Ts I saw always let me know that if I needed their service in the future, all I needed to do was call and make an appointment. Works for me!

I tell the therapists that I'll know I'm done when I want to be there, because then I would just be using it as a life/love hack. They find this odd as they cannot conceive of anyone not wanting to be in their presence.

When I cut down to once a month after several years of going once a week, this was the best clue for me.

when the money runs out

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

You might need much more stability for a much longer period of time.

I am new to therapy so my advice is probably not the best but I would say go with your gut, In my case anyway, he says that if I cut down to bi weekly or monthly, I can always go back to weekly, so ask if yours is the same so that way you are not really ending it, per say but just going less until you may need more again??

For me, as much as it is NOT supposed to be this way, he is the only real life support I have in the sense of not being judged and feeling I can talk about anything to, so I need that, probably more long term but I know by the end of summer I'll be going bi weekly instead of weekly, at least to try it

Anyway, good luck.