This is a tough question for some to fathom while others have come here looking for a solid concrete answer. Let me first say that I congratulate you on getting therapy to begin with. No matter the reason, you decided to dive into therapy and work on yourself and that is an incredible thing.
So now you’re at the point where you feel like maybe it’s time to stop? Or maybe your therapist recommended tapering off your sessions. How you are feeling in this moment is a good indicator on the next steps you might consider taking. Take a moment to just listen to your body and recognize what you are feeling and where you are feeling that feeling. Is in a fluttering feeling in your chest? A sick feeling in your stomach? A hot feeling in your face? Do you feel nothing at all? Does stopping therapy feel like the right decision?
What Do The Experts Say
Then I would recommend reading this article by psychology Today. Consider what is outlined. Be honest with yourself, where do you fall in the list of ideas here? Is it something else entirely that you are facing? Are you simply feeling resistance to therapy and want to quit because it’s hard. Consider the reasons why, write them down if you need to. Talk to your therapist about them if you feel comfortable doing so.
In whatever you are experiencing in this moment, sit with it. You don’t have to make an immediate decision. You can sit and wait. have a few more sessions. Taper off slowly with your therapist. Of course, if you and your therapist are at odds with each other or you feel that you are not being helped at all by your therapist, perhaps a more swift decision is the right way to go. However, if this is a decision that you don’t have to make right in this very moment, sit with it.
My Own Experience with Therapy
I recently had my therapist of 2+ years ask me, what does your life look like if you stopped going to weekly therapy? What emotions come up for you when you consider life without it? I paused for a moment. My immediate reaction was fear – a fear of change. Change of routine and change of having someone to talk to every Monday. I wanted to say that’s a crazy idea. I NEED THIS!
After I took some time to think, it actually is starting to feel like the next step. This isn’t a decision against my therapist or my therapist against me. In fact, it’s a decision that we’ve gone through so much in the last few years that I’m now at a place in my life where it’s time to stand on my own two feet.
When I started therapy I was newly sober and feeling like my body was chemically sabotaging me. I was tired all the time. I was unmotivated and a chronic self-sabotager. I refused medication and wanted to try talk therapy to see if I could get out of the slump I was in emotionally. I didn’t understand why I was drinking myself to death prior and why I was carrying around so much guilt and resentments. I needed help and I needed a professional. I was afraid if I didn’t get help right then, I would return to drinking and eventually die. It wasn’t enough for me to just say that my higher power as gonna help me. I wanted….nay…..NEEDED answers.
Did Therapy Help?
Self exploration and answers I definitely got. What now? Well, now it’s time for me to move on to the next part of my journey and for me, that’s leaving therapy. Maybe that is where you are at in your process. Maybe you want to keep going. Maybe you are fighting even going to therapy because you don’t want to do the work. Wherever you are at in your journey, I encourage you to question and explore. Open yourself up and dig deep.
My list of regrets are many, but therapy has never been something I’ve regretted. I now feel as though I have a therapist in my head. I can hear what I’m supposed to think about before doing things. Sometimes I still make mistakes and I likely always will because that is part of learning. However, there is a new awareness and self discovery that I didn’t have before and I’ll always be grateful for that.
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