What do you think of the subsidised counselling available via GPs? Do four sessions really make an impact?
Without doubt the hardest question to answer when someone starts therapy is "how long will it take?"
Difficult because many people fear that coming to therapy means spending years on the couch, becoming dependent to the point where you are unable to leave, destined to forever turn up each week and disgorge the contents of your psyche to your shrink.
Conversely others have the expectation that their depression, anxiety or relationship difficulties can be fixed in a handful of sessions. Fair enough, therapy can be hard, and increasingly expensive. But where does this idea come from? Is it a realistic expectation?
There is certainly no evidence that four sessions is any kind of magic number. The problem with most "time limited" treatments, whether they be via your GP (technically your Primary Health Organisation, or PHO), via your Employee Assistance (EAP) scheme or elsewhere, is that the number of sessions is based on money, not on clinical evidence.
