How Long Will Therapy Take?

It’s not infrequent that when I talk with people new to therapy they ask “How long will therapy take?” Not an unreasonable question, but…

It’s not infrequent that when I talk with people new to therapy they ask “How long will therapy take?” Not an unreasonable question, but almost always an unanswerable one.

Pete Pearson of the Couples Institute gets credit for one of the best analogies I’ve heard, which is that the question “How long will therapy take?” is a little like asking “How long will it take for me to get wealthy?” No analogy is perfect (and the answer about therapy is actually much harder!), but consider some of the factors in the wealth question and think about what the parallels might be with therapy:

• First off, how would you define “wealthy.” There are some general standards, but each individual will have their own idea of what that is for them.

• How much money do you have to start with?

• How motivated are you to become wealthy, and what are you willing to contribute in terms of time, effort and discomfort? (If you hadn’t noticed, this is a big one!)

• How much knowledge, talent and/or skill do you have in managing …