Why People May Need to Say No to More Therapy

Why it may be time for people to put into practice what they have learned in therapy.

Key points:

• Effective therapy brings about positive change and more life fulfilment, as quickly as possible.
• Sometimes people need to be encouraged to let go of ongoing support.
• They need to learn to trust that they can keep using their new knowledge in their daily lives.

Recently, I realise, I have been talking myself out of a lot of work.

I had had four sessions with a very pleasant, diffident young man, who found it hard to be comfortable in social situations. He worried constantly that people were judging what he was saying and, because he thought he had a tic, an involuntary movement of one eyelid, he worried that all eyes were drawn to him, wherever he was in a room.

He was prone to a lot of “What if?” thinking, catastrophising about all and anything, including his not being able to find a permanent job in his chosen field. This led to extremely negative thoughts and hopelessness.

We had done much to build his confidence. I taught him a number of techniques to enable him to let go of the unfounded negative thinking, alongside reminding him of his many resources, including his courage in entering social situations (despite discomfort), the fact that he had many friends, his persistence in seeking to further his career, and his success in temporary roles.

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