Therapy - Is it working? FYI

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-14-2003
Therapy - Is it working? FYI
2
Sat, 03-13-2004 - 2:49pm
A copy from Thursday's DEAR ABBY:

Dear Abby: A reader asked how a person can tell if psychiatry is "working." We would like to offer some suggestions.

The patient or client should have a specific plan for recovery. The therapist - a clinical socal worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, or marriage and family therapist - should teach coping skills so the person can assemble a "coping toolbox." Patients should expect to do behavioral homework between counseling sessions.

Sometimes medication is needed; often it is not. Most uncomplicated depression and anxioety problems respond favorably within 10 to 20 sessions. Additional complicating factors may extend the number of sessions, but by the 20th session the person should see definite improvement.

Just "talking about" problems is helpful but not usually enough to make and maintain changes. It is also not generally helpful to focus ONLY on the past / childhood when the problems are occurring today. Therapists and clients can be sure that goals are being met by assessing behavior and emotional changes at regular intervals.

-Eric J. Abell, Ph.D., Gail Simpson, MSW, LCSW, Costa Mesa, CA.

Dear Dr. Abell and Ms. Simpson: Thank you for lending your expertise to answer this often-asked question. People who are emotionally vulnerable are not always in the best position to evaluate their own progress.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Mon, 03-15-2004 - 9:33am
Thank you for posting that. I have been searching my head with the same question- is it working ? I have talked with my doctor and we are going to start some cognitive behavior therapy next session. Your post supports how things are going and reminds me that it takes time and effort on my part to get better. Thanks again, Martha
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-14-2003
Mon, 03-15-2004 - 10:27am
This is another example why drugs and therapy doesn't work for me. That's why I go to alot of boards, to share what I've done, happened to me, and what I'm doing about it.

Getting out of that doldrom, and getting on w/people is my answer to recovery. I'm calm, I'm together, and I'm stress-free.


Good luck to you.

Leslie