A person may seek therapy for various reasons. It can help them address some issues, such as trauma, and learn coping mechanisms. Fortunately, telehealth services have made it easier to seek therapy sessions online. Usually, most people start online therapy sessions without an end date. However, there are certain situations when one needs to stop these sessions. It is important to learn about the signs indicating it’s time to end online therapy sessions.

What are mental health therapy sessions?
Mental health therapy sessions involve counseling or talk therapy. Across multiple sessions, a trained therapist listens and helps to find ways to manage emotional issues. They provide tools and methods to cope with mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Sometimes, therapy sessions are also recommended to manage difficult life events such as bereavement, work-related stress, or relationship breakdown. The sessions can last a few weeks, months, or even years. However, there can be signs that it’s time to end the therapy sessions earlier than anticipated.

Signs that indicate it’s time to stop online therapy sessions
Here are a few signs that indicate it is time to stop online therapy sessions:

1. There is a feeling of boredom
Often, people continue their online therapy sessions because they feel familiar and comfortable, even though they stop having any positive impact on their personal growth. As soon as one gets into the comfort zone, boredom sets in. This slows down the changes one expects after the session, which is quite contrary to why one started the sessions in the first place.

Usually, therapy sessions seem exciting initially, as one starts to open up about issues and feelings that have not been shared with anyone else before. Every session helps to discover something new, which makes it easier to change one’s life. While subsequent sessions will continue to help one explore new insights in their life, there might come a time when therapy will start to feel boring. The mind starts to wander while the session continues, or one easily gets distracted by other things. This is a sign that the therapy sessions are not working out anymore.

2. Sessions start to get repetitive
Repetition doesn’t always mean that one has reached a point of stagnation. Sometimes, it is necessary to circle back to the same issue or point repeatedly until one finally finds clarity. During therapy sessions, people often learn new things by repeatedly returning to the same topics. But they go deeper each time to find some new insight. It is like learning a new skill or routine by practicing it repeatedly until one has mastered it. But sometimes, repetition can be futile. The same ground is covered repeatedly, and nothing significant happens. One doesn’t end up learning or discovering anything new. The same insights and observations are repeated each time. If this happens, it’s a sign that it’s time to end the online therapy session.

3. Interactions primarily include small talk
Therapy sessions involve the therapist keeping the patient at the center of the conversation. Their job is to allow the person to go deeper into issues and subjects that one may only talk superficially about with friends or family. Yet, the focus is never on the therapist. This is how the work and results of therapy progress. But if talking to the therapist starts to become something like a bantering session with friends, it can be a sign that the therapy is not working well. While it is acceptable to have a few minutes of casual chat to feel connected and safe, it should not last for the entire session. Besides, some people also try to shift the focus on their therapist by asking personal questions as a defensive mechanism. This is also not a problem unless the entire session becomes a series of small talks without getting any insights into the issues for which one started the therapy.

4. No significant progress is observed
Online therapy sessions usually do not give instant results. Only after a series of multiple sessions does one see significant progress. Yet, an effective therapy session may help one feel relieved, happy, or vulnerable. One comes away with a useful insight that contributes to better personal growth, although it is slow progress. But sometimes, there is little progress, even after multiple sessions. The therapy stops impacting one’s mental health or personal growth. Or it would also be that one has successfully worked through the issues for which they seek therapy. As a result, there has been no significant progress since the sessions. All of these are signs that it might be time to end the online therapy session.