Therapeutic Tseng

Going to psychotherapy is different than going to many of your other healthcare providers. Normally, our job as a patient or client is to go to the doctor’s office, have them examine or diagnose us, wait for the doctor to tell us the problem, and then receive medicine from the doctor. We often experience a passive treatment process where we wait to be told what is going on with us and what medicine we need to take to fix it.

In therapy, the client is the most important person. How the client is feeling and what the client wants to discuss are the main foci of therapy. Do I, as the therapist, have an idea of what you should be working on and what direction I think you should follow? I probably do. However, I know that our therapeutic issues present themselves in different formats. I trust that, what you feel is important to discuss, is the best medium or “package” for us to do therapeutic work. I want clients to be empowered in the therapy room. It’s your life that we are working on.

Majority of the time, therapy is ongoing work. We are ultimately creating mindset or behavior change, of which the effects can be influential and far-reaching for many facets of your life. So, because we are not fixing a thing that is easily changeable, you have to come to more than one session. I have worked with clients who see dramatic improvements to their mental health or relationships within 4-6 sessions, and I have also worked with clients for several months. Some clients come to therapy for guidance with specific life challenges, stop therapy when things are more manageable, and may come back to therapy if they are navigating a new life transition. How long you feel you want to be in therapy will depend on you. There is no right or wrong answer.

In therapy, I may assign “homework” to you. Sometimes, I may ask you to reflect on a topic for the week. Sometimes, I may ask you to complete a physical task before our next session. Providing homework ensures that you get the most out of your sessions because you are working on change throughout the week as opposed just during our 50 minute session. It goes back to the topic of creating long-lasting mindset or behavior change. You probably need more than 50 minutes in your week to create lasting change. It also reminds you that the agent of change is you. A lot of times, we come to therapy during a period where we feel disempowered in our life. I am here to guide you and remind you of all the power you hold in changing your life.

If you have further questions about what therapy will be like, please give me a call at (240)-801-7295 or send me an email at christina@therapeutictseng.com . I’m happy to answer your questions to feel more comfortable with therapy.