One of the most common questions people ask before starting therapy is, “How long will this take?”
It is an understandable question. Therapy is an investment of time, energy, and financial resources. You want to know what you are committing to and whether it will truly help.
The honest answer is that therapy length depends less on a fixed timeline and more on your goals, history, and the depth of change you are seeking. At Trickett Psychotherapy and Counselling, we view short term and long term therapy not as competing models, but as different pathways toward growth.
Understanding the difference can help you make an informed and confident decision.
What Is Short Term Therapy?
Short term therapy typically ranges from six to twenty sessions. It is often structured, goal oriented, and focused on a specific concern.
Examples include:
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Managing panic attacks
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Developing coping strategies for workplace stress
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Navigating a recent life transition
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Improving communication skills in a relationship
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Reducing symptoms of mild to moderate anxiety or depression
Short term therapy often draws from evidence based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and solution focused strategies. The work is active and collaborative. Sessions may include skill building, behavioural experiments, reframing unhelpful thinking patterns, and structured exercises between appointments.
This approach can be highly effective when:
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The concern is situational rather than lifelong
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You are functioning relatively well overall
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You are seeking tools and strategies
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There is no significant unresolved trauma driving the issue
Short term therapy can provide clarity, relief, and direction. For many clients, it offers exactly what is needed at a particular stage of life.
What Is Long Term Therapy?
Long term therapy is more open ended. It may continue for several months or longer, depending on the depth of exploration and goals.
Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, long term therapy often explores:
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Attachment patterns in relationships
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Early life experiences and their ongoing impact
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Chronic self criticism or shame
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Repeated relational dynamics
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Complex trauma
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Identity development and life meaning
This work tends to be slower and more layered. It involves not only understanding patterns intellectually, but experiencing and reshaping them emotionally and relationally within the safety of the therapeutic relationship.
Long term therapy is often appropriate when:
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Patterns feel longstanding or deeply rooted
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You notice the same struggles repeating across relationships
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Emotional responses feel disproportionate or confusing
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Insight alone has not led to change
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You want more than coping. You want transformation
At Trickett Psychotherapy and Counselling, long term therapy is not about dependency. It is about depth. It allows space for emotional processing, nervous system regulation, and corrective relational experiences that cannot be rushed.
