Sometimes we go to therapy for years and still don’t see the progress we’re hoping for.
Healing isn’t linear and it’s important to be realistic- all your problems will not be solved in an hour-long session a week.
But there are a couple things you can do to get more out of your therapy sessions.
So here’s a list of helpful ideas!
(If you’re stressed out and need ways to feel better right now, check out this list of relaxing activities.)
Habits of Effective People
Setting Your Intentions & Routines
- Write down one specific goal or focus area right before your therapy session, so you know exactly what you want to talk about.
- If you have a medication provider, keep track of your mood over the course of the month, and be honest about how you’ve been feeling when your appointment comes around.
- Create a dedicated space in your home to use for journaling and reflection. So you can sit there and feel calm. Decorate it with soft items and something that smells nice. If you don’t have a home right now (been there) you can create a self-care kit and keep it in your backpack.
- Protect the first hour of your day, or the last hour of your day, if you’re a night owl. The point is: set aside an hour each day for being by yourself. This time is for internal grounding and personal tracking before reacting to the demands of the outside world. No matter how busy you are, this is of the utmost importance. Until you learn to do this, you’ll always be running on a low gas tank. It can be an hour where you do something seperate from your romantic partner. It can be the hour after your kids fall asleep. It can be the hour after you wake up, before you go to work. If it’s really feeling impossible, start with an hour or two a week, just for you.
- Spend this time journaling, meditating, daydreaming, or listening to music.
- Design a peaceful evening wrap-up to gently unpack the day’s emotional weight and clear your mental slate for sleep. Don’t just throw yourself in bed- create a relaxing, fun, easygoing evening routine. Mine is pretty simple: hygiene, meditate, journal, take my meds, daydream about fantasy worlds until I fall asleep.
- Track your mood and recovery milestones on your phone, with useful free apps. I recommend these two apps: I Am Sober and Daylio.
Engaging with Truth and Reality
- Practice the power of a deep breath and a deliberate pause before responding to situations that usually make you feel reactive or annoyed. Stop and don’t say anything. Just observe and listen mindfully before proceeding.
- Look honestly at uncomfortable truths about your current habits instead of leaning on comforting illusions to ease the discomfort. If you’re not ready to say it out loud, journal the truth. You can burn it if it’s too private to exist.
- View your inner patterns like you’re a scientist, not like you’re a judge. Observe your thoughts without judging yourself as good or bad.
- List the behavioral traits you are permanently shedding alongside the confident behaviors you want to practice in their place.
- Acknowledge a low-motivation day when nothing gets done with patience and self-forgiveness rather than letting it spiral into self-blame.
Structuring Protective Boundaries
- Establish a non-negotiable boundary regarding who is allowed into your inner circle and what energy you accept in your space. Stop responding to messages from people who make you feel badly about yourself. Block or stop following people that make you feel badly about yourself.
- Commit to a temporary period of total no-contact when trying to heal from a relationship that left you feeling drained or uprooted.
- Keep parts of your internal processing completely private. This means- you don’t have to tell your friends and family secrets when you’re looking for intimacy. Instead, try asking them a question. It can be good to cultivate a healthy sense of personal mystery and deep autonomy.
- Ruthlessly cut out trivial distractions. When you’re watching videos, tv shows, or movies, choose to watch the BEST ones you can find- not just anything that pops up.
- Accept that you can care deeply for someone while recognizing that your daily paths must move in entirely different directions. If he wanted to, he would’ve.
Shifting from Learning to Action
- Take one idea you learned about this week– a concept or an interesting fact- and talk about it with someone within 24 hours.
- Share one piece of your authentic, imperfect creative work with someone else, to build comfort with vulnerability and break through perfectionism.
- Channel your deepest personal challenges into a creative project, an essay, or a journal entry to transform pain into purpose.
- Step intentionally into the beginner’s mind by exploring a brand-new skill, philosophy, or routine without needing to be an expert at first.
- Ask your therapist for “homework” assignments at the end of every session to bridge the gap between talk and daily lifestyle.
Activating Community & Perspective
- Connect regularly with a peer group or support group that shares your commitment to growth, psychology, or recovery. Click here to find a recovery group.
- Instead of focusing on yourself, observe the underlying dynamics and body language in a room during social gatherings to build empathy and keep your own thoughts calm.
- Read biographies of historical figures or creative people to see how they successfully navigated deep personal loss and isolation.
- Rely on your chosen “dream team” of friends for shared laughter and deep debate when your own head feels a little too heavy. Reach out to safe friends and safe family when you feel sad or alone. If you’re lacking good relationships right now, try the recovery grou[ps.
- Join or create a peaceful group chat to share funny videos and pictures, and connect with the people you love.
If you’re looking for more mental health, recovery, and self-care ideas, subscribe to our blog!
see ya next time,
Jordan
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