Benefits of twice a week sessions?

[barefoot]

I did two sessions per week for about three months when I was really struggling and couldn’t go to work. I think my therapist’s thinking was that she could provide more support and we could build some momentum when I had more time available (because I was off work)

I liked it because it was more time with her building relationship and because it meant that I had a regular routine and some sense of purpose for those two days in the week. I would have a two hour session on a Tuesday then a one hour session on a Friday - so the Tuesday one was often a deeper dive into stuff and the shorter Thursday one was usually a follow up, checking in on what had come up during and since the previous session. That worked quite well. And, as someone else has mentioned, if I came out of a session feeling frustrated with myself or that I had wasted time (which was often!) it felt reassuring to know that I didn’t have to wait long til next time.

Downsides...I think the main one for me is that therapy felt quite all-encompassing at that time. I didn’t have much else going on, I wasn’t working, I felt awful...everything seemed to be around therapy, it seemed. I did also find it quite a wrench when I had to drop back to once per week. I actually do once a fortnight at the moment and, although I would leap at the chance to go every week if that was feasible, I actually count the days far less going less frequently. It has eased some of the intensity for me.

But if this is an alternative to inpatient, perhaps it sounds like twice per week might be a good option for you?

 

[Friday]

I've almost always done 2-3x per week 2+ hour sessions.

- Once a week for 2+ hours is helpful. Not ideal, but helpful.
- Once a week for an hour tends to just scratch the surface and then I'm a mess all week.
- Once a fortnight/Once a month for an hour only f*cks me up for about a week (few days on either side of it) but jack shit gets accomplished. It's essentially just an expensive kick in the gut.

Longer sessions more often just work best for me. My dysreg comes very quickly a lot more under control, my life comes together more, and I get a helluva lot of work done.

 

[Suzetig]

I think length of session is important - I always see my T for 90 mins, 2 hours when I'm really struggling and then add in another session of the same length if I feel I need it.

For me an hour long session is hopeless, my T and I are very good at quickly getting in to what I need to work on but I need the longer session to work to a place where I feel stable enough to leave and cope for the rest of the week.

It helps that my T is incredibly flexible and that I absolutely know she would find time to see me quickly if I needed it. I think it's much harder if your T has a fairly fixed schedule with allocated time slots - I guess it means you'd need to be sure you had you slot because they may not be able to fit you in as and when.

 

[Kopykat]

I go twice a week when possible, on rare occasions 3 times. It helps me to go twice a week bc of trust issues and I have issues w abandonment and stuff. The only cons for me I would say are sometimes the travel bc I have to drive an hour one way for the appointments sometimes. I think if I only did once a week it would have taken me a lot longer to build up a safe and positive rapport. I’m sure one day I will not feel I need twice a week though.

 

[deeplyloved]

I wish I could afford to go more than once a week or for a longer session. I think that would be really helpful and productive for me.

 

[SummerDaze]

I go twice a week. I started by going once every 2 weeks for the first few months which was fine for me at the time. After I became attached to my T, however, I started finding the time between sessions too much so changed to once a week. Now I go twice a week and it seems like an ideal amount for me right now but I do hope to go back to once a week in a few months.

Twice a week has helped me to solidify the therapeutic relationship with my T and allowed me to go deeper. At once a week I found a lot of the session was spent 'settling in' and recapping on the week.

I would definitely give twice a week a try and see how it goes for you as I think each client is different and needs a different amount and you won't know what that amount is until you test it.

 

[One step at a time]

On session length: mine are usually 1.5 hours. Used to be longer.

 

[Mach123]

I think I was doing 4 times a week for a period of time. I don't remember those early days so well. I had a family crisis intervention team coming here, supposedly because we had just moved and my autistic daughter was having such a bad time. They found out pretty quick the one who was really in trouble was me or I was by far the most pressing problem lol. They were here three days a week. I was seeing a psychologist at the time and then I started seeing a trauma therapist, all at the same time. (I think the in home therapy might have been twice a week I think 4 days a week was my max.) Then I went to an outpatient thing that was awful but I said something out loud in front of people there I had never done before and I did some interesting work in art therapy (I used to call it basket weaving time) That was pretty hectic and there was so much to learn in so short a time. It was one of those women who originally identified that I had trauma and what had to be done about it. I had told plenty of therapists there were sexual issues in my childhood but they all more or less ignored it. I was still repressing everything also. But yes, it was very helpful and very intense and I was really lucky I received that level of care. Eventually, I got back down to once a week but I went twice a week for at least 3 years. I went to one state run place, she was really great and the rest have been private and took my insurance even though it meant a lot less money than they usually get paid. I would say go to all the therapy you can in my opinion. I sure did.

 

[void]

@theshadowoftheliving

2x/week would cost $360-500/week or $1440-2000/week.

Only problem with that is I'm a bit partial to having food to eat.

Otherwise, sign me up.

 

[Cannottakethis]

I have gone as much as three times a week during a severe crisis. More recently I was going to times a week to deal with the situation between myself and my soon to be ex-husband. Once the situation ended and now I’m getting divorced, I am back to once a week and I don’t mind it being only once a week. I think when you need more help I can be beneficial to go twice a week we would spend one week doing my diary card as I’m in a DBT program, and then the second session we would talk about different issues that I was having most difficulty with. I also have 24/7 phone coaching available to me. It does seem like kind of a long time Between sessions now, but I am able to use my skills more to deal with things and I don’t have to drive all the way to see him twice a week now. I think it is nice that it is offered when we can take advantage of it and nice that we don’t always need it.

 

[void]

:oops::x3::oops::x3:

Correction: of course I meant to write "2x/week would cost $360-500/week or $1440-2000/month"

...not "/week"

My apologies.

 

[Deleted member 42665]

I have, the biggest perk for me, is I feel less depressive moments between sessions. When I did weekly, I often felt like I was just not interested in going anymore and ready to quit etc.

However the drawback... is that you become wAY more bonded to them.