Therapist wants to start seeing me twice a week -eek!

[jendifa]

I've been seeing a therapist weekly for the last year. This week she has said she wants to see my twice a week, as I'm finding it harder to cope with things at the moment.

Although I'm feeling relieved at the idea, I'm still a bit scared about it, and the friend I told was fairly judgemental about it.

Anyone any wise words of wisdom, or any experience in this?

do you pay them? I'm not a health expert at all but I have heard this is quite common and I have to say I am a bit skeptical about a therapist who would be taking money off their clients suggesting this.

I pay, but she has lowered the amount, so I'm only paying a tiny bit more, rather than paying for two sessions.
We discussed the payment side of it, with her saying that she couldn't not charge me, as she didn't have the ability to do that, but the priority was me, rather than the money.

They're just offering you an extra hour - you don't have to take it

Sometimes people find it really difficult to ask for help. I went twice a week for a month once (was bereaved) and the extra support really helped.

I saw my therapist twice a week for 3 months (NHS) it helped me a lot - felt like there was less time between things to let it all build up again.

I would maybe do it for a time limited period - 2/3 weeks.

I increased times also (at full rate sadly) but whilst ok for a short time, for longer term I found it harder to go back to once a week (but had to financially) and cope on my own. So agree limitting time can be helpful for lots of reasons, as I jsut ended up dependent on her and that wasn't good.

Hi I'm a therapist.

If your therapist is accredited, (BACP etc) then they will have 'signed up' to and work with an ethical framework which states that therapists often will offer a 'sliding scale' of fees. This means, that unless people cannot pay anything, many therapists will accept clients on lower incomes to pay lower fees. It is obviously down to the individual therapist to decide what is appropriate.

It's not in a therapist's interest to try and get more money out of clients as this risks damaging the theraputic relationship and trust you have built between you. Clients can walk away whenever they want, so it's a delicate balancing act between offering the correct amount of support without making people feel like they have to do it.

Your judgemental friend is being exactly that. Essentially, you are the only person who knows what you need and what you find helpful. Your therapist can only suggest, it's up to you if you decide to go ahead with it.

Maybe try it for a few weeks and see if it helps.

The main thing I would encourage is to be honest with your therapist, talk it through with them and share your concerns. It's unlikely to be anything they've not heard before.

Hope that helps.

Thanks all for the responses.

I feel that it will be helpful, as things are difficult at the moment, and finding it harder than usual to maintain normality without returning to unhelpful coping mechanisms.