How Long Does Therapy Take?

"How long will this take?"

It is the first question most people ask, and the one therapists are worst at answering. The honest answer is: it depends. But that is not very useful, so let me break down what it actually depends on.

The Short Version

• A specific, recent issue (failed exam, breakup, work crisis): 4-8 sessions
• Anxiety or panic disorder: 8-16 sessions
• DPDR after a panic attack: 6-12 weeks of weekly sessions
• Depression: 12-24 sessions, sometimes longer
• Trauma / cPTSD: 6 months to 2 years, depending on complexity
• Deep identity or relational patterns: open-ended, typically 6-18 months

These are ranges, not guarantees. But they give you a realistic picture.

What Determines the Timeline

1. What is actually driving the problem

Someone who comes in saying "I failed an exam and feel devastated" might need one session. Or they might reveal -- three sessions in -- that the exam was not the real issue. The real issue is a lifetime of pressure from parents who treated underachievement as a moral failure. That is not a one-session problem.

The presenting issue and the underlying issue are often different. The timeline depends on which one we are treating.

2. How long the pattern has been running

A panic disorder that started six months ago is generally faster to treat than one that started six years ago. Not because the condition worsens over time, but because the coping behaviours, avoidance patterns, and identity structures built around it become more entrenched. More layers means more to work through.

3. How much work you have already done

Someone arriving with a cPTSD diagnosis who has already done years of therapy may need six months of targeted work on a specific pattern. Someone arriving with the same diagnosis but no prior therapy may need longer to build the foundation.

4. What is happening in your life right now

Are you living with a partner who supports your growth, or one who feels threatened by it? Are you in a stable job, or in crisis? Do you have the bandwidth to process difficult material between sessions, or are you just surviving?

Context accelerates or slows everything.

5. Session frequency

Weekly sessions are not just twice as fast as fortnightly sessions. They are more like three times as effective. The intensity matters. Weekly sessions maintain momentum -- the work builds on itself. Fortnightly sessions lose the thread.

I start everyone weekly. We move to fortnightly when progress is solid, then monthly, then we finish.

When You Will Notice Something Shift

Most people feel something change within the first 2-4 sessions. Not necessarily symptom reduction -- more often a sense of being understood, a reduction in confusion, and the relief of having someone explain what is happening in a way that makes sense.

The fear typically drops before the symptoms do. This is a good sign. It means the mechanism is weakening.

The Question Behind the Question

When people ask "how long will this take?", they are often really asking: "Is this going to be worth it?" or "Am I going to be stuck in therapy forever?"

The answer to the first question is almost always yes. The answer to the second is no. Therapy is not a lifestyle. It is a process with a beginning, a middle, and an end. My goal is to make myself unnecessary as quickly as possible -- not to create dependency.

Some people need 8 sessions. Some need 80. Both are legitimate. The length of therapy is not a reflection of how broken you are. It is a reflection of how deep the pattern goes and how much needs to shift.

How This Works With Me

The intro session is 80 minutes -- long enough to properly understand what is going on and build a working formulation. After that, sessions are 50 minutes, weekly to start. We adjust as you progress.

I do not do open-ended, aimless therapy. Every session has direction. We know what we are working on and why. And when the work is done, we stop.

Book your intro session -- audio-only, wherever you are, no waiting list.