As mental health professionals, we fully understand how therapy works, and it is part of our job to educate prospective clients and clients. This largely includes having conversations about the consistency and frequency that you attend therapy appointments. We are writing this blog as we also fully understand that many prospective and new clients who come to our office, and therapy in general, are not familiar with how therapy really works. They are especially not familiar with the commitment that is required if you really want to reach your goals and get even the smallest outcome from the process.

When clients do not understand how this process that we call therapy works, this means sometimes people set out the with the plan that they will come to therapy appointments once per month. And we are talking about starting out coming once per month.

We hate to break it to ya, but that’s just ineffective therapy. And this is supported by countless research studies and decades of clinical outcome reviews.

Therapy is a marathon; not a sprint.

A Related Example

The easiest comparison we can make is to that of weight loss. You simply do not lose weight by eating healthy and exercising one day per month, or even one day per week. You need to be consistent with how often you engage in the necessary behaviors to reach the goals you have. With therapy, it is largely the same except compared to weight loss, in most cases you only need one appointment a week (not five days a week!).

Weekly Appointments are a Must in the Beginning of Therapy

At no point in the process of therapy is this more important than the very beginning when introductions are being made, rapport is being built between you and your therapist, goals are being established, skills are being developed, and momentum and progress towards those goals are being realized.

It’s All About Outcomes

We certainly agree that only needing to attend appointments on a monthly basis would be ideal, but it’s simply not practical. At Tampa Therapy in particular, we pride ourselves on providing the very best outcomes, and helping you to make the most of the time you spend in therapy and the money you spend on therapy. We would be doing you a disservice by only seeing you once per month or less, and we simply stand by providing the highest quality of care possible.

Any therapist who does care about the outcomes you get from therapy will also follow these guidelines (again, especially at the beginning of therapy), whether you are being seen for free or paying a few hundred dollars per session. Outcomes are related to consistency and frequency, not occasional appointment visits.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP

At Tampa Therapy, we are committed to providing a relaxing, healing, and non-judgmental environment to support you on your journey to mental and emotional growth and health, and into parenthood.  If you want things to be different, you have to change them. This means being open-minded, patient, committed, and understanding that therapy is a process and it takes time. We are not a massage therapy office, we are not your cleaning service. Monthly appointments simply are ineffective, especially at the beginning of therapy.

If you are ready to start making important changes in your life and believe that now is the time for you to make that commitment, give us a call or email us today to start the process of getting help. If you are not ready yet, that is completely okay. Just contact us when you are.