This depends on what you bring to a therapist’s office. So, along with the concerns you bring, you, your history, your social support and resources; and of course your therapist and the present context; all influence the course of therapy. 

In other words, there’s no one right length of therapy, and it varies quite a bit from one person to another. Two people might present the same issues, but their situation is unique and so will be their therapeutic journey.

Research has generally found a positive relationship between length of treatment and clinical outcomes. Which means, more individuals show significant change or recovery with longer time of therapy. It is therefore important that you have a sufficient length (depth) of therapy and reasonable expectations before deciding it is not working.

• About 50% of people start to feel better after about 15-20 sessions of therapy
• Acute difficulties like a sudden loss or a break up usually require fewer sessions than do chronic conditions like anxiety or depression which may need more in-depth intervention and naturally will take longer to heal.

The length of therapy is often tentative and revisited throughout the course of therapy.