People often spend months or years in therapy unnecessarily because they don’t know how to make the most of their experience.
Many people describe therapists as "shrinks". In fact, therapy is about safely stretching beyond what is familiar. Be open and try to adopt a spirit of adventure.
The more honest you can be about your experience, the more you will benefit from therapy. Mindfulness involves an ability to self-observe without judgment, which can reveal important insights. Be willing to be uncomfortable, at times. Therapy is a time for looking at the parts of your life that are not working as you would like. Inevitably, these are the most painful, scary and shameful parts of your life. Unfortunately, healing these hurt parts requires spending time looking at these painful feelings.
It can be scary or difficult to experiment with new ways of relating. Your relationships your therapist can be an opportunity to experiment with new ways of relating in the safe environment of the therapist's office. Once you are comfortable with these new relationship patterns, you can use them in all of your relationships.
Therapy is not just about focusing on problems, but also about recognizing strengths and resources and taking pride in them.
It is normal that there will appear to be no progress for weeks or months. Often things build for for many months, before coming to resolution. Symptoms may even become worse before getting better. Hang in there!
If you are not sure that you want to continue therapy, it is important to discuss this with your therapist. When you have clarity on your reasons; and you feel comfortable with those reasons; then leaving therapy may be the right thing for you.
