For as long as psychotherapy has been around, people have been prescribed and encouraged to attend sessions on a weekly basis. If not, more than that. The psychology behind the weekly model is that consistency allows the therapist to get more information about the patient, get to know them better, and build momentum quicker. The ensuing regularity of weekly sessions is meant to create a routine that establishes a consistent process to teach patients how to alleviate symptoms regularly. However, this approach has some limitations that are rarely discussed out in the open.
Limitations of Weekly Psychotherapy
1. Potential Overwhelm. One limitation of the weekly psychotherapy model is that it can lead to patient overwhelm. When a patient opens up about certain pains or traumas, it can be emotionally burdensome to continue to process week after week. Constantly talking about the same thing can become laborious, draining, and sometimes even unwittingly reinforcing. For example, if Jennifer keeps reliving the pain and trauma from her relationship with her mother on a regular basis, her neural pathways for that memory or dynamic will continue to get activated, creating a more solid and robust path for her to keep feeling the same thing over and over. Over time, this can wear Jennifer out, and even adversely impact her feelings towards her mother. After all, the more she attunes to it, the more she is giving it her energy.
2. High Risk of Dependency. A second limitation is that consistent weekly sessions can inadvertently build a reliance or dependency on the therapist. Going every week it’s easy to get used to the therapist, and used to the process of venting, talking, being seen and heard in a one-way container. The comfort of talking with someone who is completely devoted to you can easily get addictive. At that stage, the lines can get easily blurred, though. A patient might feel like they are done, but keep sticking around because they are “just used to it” or even unconsciously create new problems just to stick around longer and keep feeling seen, heard, and valued by someone who is not in their real life. In this way, staying in this paid performance of intimacy can become counter productive.
3. Trap of Roteness and Boredom. A third limitation of weekly sessions is the possibility of rote performance. When you are forced to show up every week regardless of your internal state, therapy can lose its “edge” and become a routine box-ticking exercise. The sessions can become a place to “fill the hour” with small talk or superficial updates because you feel obligated to perform the ritual of therapy. This can create a chronic, low-level boredom that undermines the intensity for real change to occur. Instead of being a catalyst for breakthroughs, the weekly rhythm can become a flat, repetitive background noise in your life. The value of these sessions diminish, and you’re still paying for them.
4. Possible Reduction in Self-Confidence. Finally, another limitation is that going to therapy every week can subconsciously send patients the message that they “need” the therapist every week in order to succeed in their life, or to stay afloat. This can reduce their self-confidence, or belief in themselves that they can do life well without therapy. Because of this, patients might unknowingly start to think that there is something wrong with them that they must keep going to therapy every week. The truth is patients often have more strength, tenacity, and resilience than the mental health field is traditionally credited as giving them. By breaking the process up into less frequent sessions, patients can start to feel that they can do more on their own than they would have otherwise thought they could do.
Instead of the weekly psychotherapy model, high-ticket psychotherapy just once a month could get you better results, in less time, for less money. I’m not talking about maintenance therapy after being in therapy for years here. What I’m referring to is a psychotherapy model that starts on a monthly cadence. Here are some benefits to this approach.
Benefits of High-Ticket Monthly Psychotherapy
1. High Impact. When therapy is high-ticket and starts with an expressed frequency of once per month, this places a premium on the efficiency of the process. At this stage, the psychologist has the responsibility to be sharp and on-point. This means the psychologist must be able to identify root causes of the client’s issues quickly, understand how to navigate the presenting problem proficiently, and offer unique clarity and insight early on that will borderline make the patient go, “Whoah, that’s right. I never it saw it like that.” This sets the patient up for a powerful win.
2. More Room to Breathe. The nature of high impact psychotherapy is that it can be very potent. In order to accomplish this potency, insights come faster. Depending on the insights, these can take time to process and digest. The beauty of having weeks of space between sessions is that it affords the patient the opportunity to really think about what they learned, possibly troubleshoot new ways of being in their lives, and not feel pressured that they have to “report back” in a week if they are not ready to. The time gives them the liberty to think for themselves for longer, and more patiently decide what they want to do next before meeting again.
3. Quicker Results. When patients pay a higher premium and know that they are allowed to have several weeks between sessions, they are more likely to listen more carefully in sessions. Automatically, this raises their focus and prompts them to listen more carefully than they otherwise would because every minute suddenly becomes scarce. Often, this can motivate patients to take the process more seriously, and do what they need to do to resolve their issues quicker.
4. Saves Time. Naturally, when a patient is more focused in sessions, and is driven to apply appropriate solutions in their real life more seriously, they are going to get resolutions to their problems faster. That increased personal investment creates a sharper, more focused outcome. For example, if Michael goes to therapy for $250/hour once a week for a month, he will have spent 4 hours and $1,000 in a month. However, if Michael pays $1,000/hour once a month, and he gets at least the same amount of knowledge and insight, if not more, than 4 sessions at $250/hour, he just saved 3 hours of his life! That’s 3 more hours of freedom and autonomy a month with the same, if not more, information.
5. Saves Money. Quicker clarity and insight, and faster resolutions of problems mean less time in therapy. Less time in therapy overall means you save more money. For example, if Catherine goes to therapy for $600/hour once per week for 4 weeks per month, she spends a total of $2,400 in the month. However, if she pays $1,000/hour once a month, maybe twice per month, and gets the same if not more knowledge and insight, she just saved a cool $400-$1,400 a month. Alternatively, if she is in weekly therapy for $200/hour for 24 weeks, she spends $4,800. But if she has a more efficient session at $1,000/hour and gets more of a result in just one session, then she just saved $3,800 (and got to the same point, if not farther, 23 weeks sooner).
6. Empowers Patients. Knowing that you don’t have to be in therapy every week sends a powerful message to your subconscious: you can do life well on your own, if you need more help you ask for it, you are worth it. The therapist is also signaling to the patient that they trust them. By leading with a once per month model, patients are receiving the message that they are smart, capable, and trustworthy. If they need more help, they can ask for it.
Why Monthly Psychotherapy Works
1. Discerning Psychologist. The high-ticket monthly psychotherapy model only works if the psychologist is exceptionally discerning and knows what they’re talking about. They must be able to read a situation quickly, break things down effectively, and communicate the information simply. They have to deliver what they see in a way that speaks to the patient’s heart and soul immediately. When a patient feels, “Wow, how did you know that so quickly?” everyone wins.
2. Engineered Differently. If you are already spending $250 a week on traditional therapy, you are already investing $1,000 a month in your mental health. The question is: Are you getting $1,000 worth of results? This monthly model allows you to invest a comparable amount for high-impact results designed to get you where you want to go faster. By the physics of it all, it is nearly impossible to get $1,000 worth of value in four sessions of $250.
4 low impact sessions do not equal 1 high impact session. Just as…
4 BMWs do not equal 1 Lamborghini.
They are built differently. Structured differently. Work differently.
~ In depth.
~ Precision.
~ Performance.
If you are interested in high-impact, highly-efficient psychotherapy, and are ready to invest in a high-ticket, premium experience designed for results, request a private consultation.