When thinking about seeing a therapist everyone probably has the same thought: Go in once a week for an hour, talk about some things, and hopefully feel better.... soon. But why do we do therapy once a week? And what would happen if we did it differently? There has been a lot of research examining more intensive treatments for many psychological disorders, primarily anxiety disorders, with outstanding results.
The Bergen 4-Day treatment has shown great results for persons living with OCD. Short, intensive treatments have been effective for panic disorder and other anxiety disorders as well. The results have been similar for adults as well as children.
What can be different in a short-term intensive setting? For one, having more set-aside time to focus on anxiety, the ways it sticks, and things that can be done to break its' hold. There is often not time to really spend time breaking anxiety and tearing down all the road blocks that anxiety puts in the way in less than one hour. Having more time with a therapist to understand and break the anxiety down can be helpful, and once people understand how it feels to really break their anxiety they can often take hold on their own.
Of course, there are many things treated very well once a week, anxieties included! Please talk to your therapist or reach out to me if you think it may be helpful to discuss more intensive treatment options!