Is Your Therapy Helping?

How do you know if your therapy is helping? How do you tell your counselor your therapy isn’t working or maybe isn’t working anymore?

Well, sometimes there are big, amazing, wonderful, happy changes that everyone notices. Then it is easy to know you are making progress and everybody is pleased. More often changes take time, and the changes are in tiny little steps that you and your therapist notice but no one else seems to think you are any different.

I can tell you that in my therapy I often felt uncomfortable and annoyed with my therapist when I was making the most progress. And when I, as a counselor, see my client becoming annoyed I tend to address this and look further into what is being triggered. (I am a hypnotherapist, so I am big on the whole “triggered” thing). Or when I come in crisis, and some relief is achieved, it can be tempting to stop once I feel better. And both times are when staying and doing the work becomes so very important.

So here is a suggestion, take a deep breath and say the hard stuff to your counselor. If you are new to each other, it will help tremendously to figure out if the problem is a failure to communicate clearly by either person or both. It may also be that the counselor’s style doesn’t work for you. Or it could be…just might be…your counselor reminds you of someone in your present or past who annoys or frightens you. Hopefully, this gets you thinking about what you can do to recharge your growth.

We here at Avenues of Counseling treasure the trust you place in us and want to assist you in any way we are able.