How To Know if Therapy is Working for You

It can take a while to decide to seek out counseling. Unfortunately, many wait until their life becomes completely unmanageable to seek help. Once you begin sessions, you may wonder how to know if it is working for you.

It is important to feel that you can talk to your counselor. While this is vital to therapy being successful, there is far more to the process than talking.

Building the Base

There are many evidence-based approaches to therapy out there, all having a great deal of research and statistics to show that they work. While this is all fine and good, the one factor that is found to be most indicative of success in counseling is whether or not you like your therapist. Building rapport and having trust is imperative to feeling that your sessions are effective.

You have to feel like sessions are going in the direction you want to be headed. It can’t be about what your therapist wants for you, it’s about your goals for yourself. It’s hard to feel invested in change if it isn’t the growth you want to see.

In every good relationship, between a client and a counselor, and between any two people, TRUST is important. Without it, it’s easy to get angry or not have faith in the direction you are headed.

Monitoring Your Progress

If counseling or therapy is working, you will notice some improvement in the way you feel about yourself and in the way you relate with others. To follow and monitor your progress in therapy, it may help to ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do I feel better than I did before?
  2. Am I feeling more hopeful?
  3. Do I feel open to change?
  4. Am I allowing myself new insights? Am I incorporating these into my life and my lifestyle?
  5. Is my therapist offering me important perspectives and tools to use in my life?

“Therapy isn’t about advice; it’s about helping you figure out what feels most authentic.” – Dr. Mark Steinberg. There are many ways to help you grow and make positive change.

Finding the Right Therapist

Finding a therapist that is the right fit for you is important. It is okay to change your therapist, you don’t have to stay with a counselor that you don’t feel is a good fit for you. We cannot click with everyone, the same can be said about therapy. Unfortunately, many assume if they don’t connect with their first therapist then therapy isn’t for them. That isn’t the case.

Carolina Counseling Services – Cameron, NC contracts with a number of highly skilled, understanding therapists who can help. Finding the right therapist is easier when you have a number of therapists to choose from. Our helpful Scheduling Team can assist you in finding a counselor you can trust. Call CCS today to schedule your first appointment.

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