5 reasons why psychotherapy may be failing

Several factors that may be hindering the progress of the patient attending therapy.

I feel that I am not making progress, why? This is a question that patients sometimes ask psychotherapists. Certainly, we are all different and this is what makes each session a challenge. When a patient feels that no progress is being made no matter how much he or she attends the intervention sessions, it is necessary to know how to pay attention to the signs that indicate the causes of this. We will explore this topic below.

Why might psychotherapy be failing?

First it is important to understand that the psychotherapy process is a two-way process: psychotherapist - patient. All psychotherapists work differently.They have their own style of therapy, varied knowledge, etc., and above all they are people who have private lives, with problems, emotions, their own idea of happiness, etc.

However, no matter how much variability there is, there are certain general factors that influence the success of psychotherapy. If they are absent, progress will not be as expected or the intervention will fail completely, leading to disappointment, frustration, anger and above all, feeding a thought that is very common in people who attended therapy and it was not effective: psychology is useless, it is a scam or the psychologist is not useful, he/she is bad.

Psychotherapy can fail because of...

I will mention some of the reasons why a therapy process can fail, not be rewarding and successful, or generate too slow progress. and successful or generate too slow progress.

1. Therapist - patient/client relationship

For a therapy to start off on the right foot, it is essential to create a good relationship with the patient/client. This relationship must be strong, positive, and based on healthy empathy. Above all, it is important to to focus on everything that concerns the patient's problem and his or her life in general. and his or her life in general. On the other hand, the patient must feel understood, comfortable and accepted by the therapist.

When this relationship has not been well forged and therapy is attended by force, this can be the cause of the lack of progress. This is a This is a more common situation in the care of adolescents and adults with addictions or similar disorders. or other similar disorders.

2. Methodology of work

As mentioned above, all therapists have their own style of therapy. Some work with approaches based on changing thinking and behavior, others have a more humanistic, person-centered approach.... Therefore, the structure of their therapies is different.

Some will start the session with a long interview, inquiring into what thoughts are frequent when the problematic behavior occurs, and others with an attentive and interested listening without making any notes, etc. On the other hand, there are therapists who are more organized, they keep track of appointments along with the planned session and the material ready to work on, others may be more improvisational or let the patient set the pace of the therapy.

If the therapy is not progressing, it may be because the therapy approach is not appropriate for the patient's problem, does not make the patient feel comfortableIt does not make the patient feel comfortable, it is too passive or too active, it is focused on tasks and the patient does not like to do them, the patient does not like the therapist's disorganization, etc.

I recommend letting the therapist know if there is something about his or her style of therapy that does not make you feel comfortable. On the other hand, if you are a therapist, it is good to explain to the patient what the therapeutic approach you use consists of.

3. Therapist's reluctance

Sometimes patients or clients come to the consultation who have a personality or attitudes that the therapist cannot digest or tolerate. This is normal, it is a person who also feels and has the right not to achieve total acceptance of the patient as he/she is. When this happens it is a good option to refer the patient/client to a colleague.

4. Reluctance of the patient

In the same way as the therapist, patients may be reluctant to the professional's advances, show negativism, defiance, or defiance of the therapist.They can be negativistic, defiant, annoyed, uncomfortable, unpleasant, uncooperative, desperate, etc.

If the patient does not collaborate with the therapy process, no progress will be made. This is common in therapy; therefore, it is important to inform the patient that it is necessary to collaborate in everything that is requested, from tasks to techniques to be performed in each session to other more general ones, in order to achieve significant progress.

5. Some aspects of the therapist

Sometimes, when therapy does not progress it may be because the therapist is not fully prepared to attend, because of fear, lack of confidence in their skills, lack of interest in updating, for using ineffective therapies without an evidence base, because they do not like their job but need money, etc.

Therefore, it is good for patients to seek referrals, it is good for patients to seek referencesask the therapist if he/she has his/her license, titles and registration in order, etc.

Remember.

If you are a therapist and you feel that your patients do not show great progress, make a detailed review of your sessions, analyze whether your therapeutic approach is the most appropriate for the type of population you serve, have confidence in them, do not torment yourself and above all keep yourself updated, since the field of clinical psychology is very broad.

If you are a patient do not be afraid to create a therapeutic bondIf you are a patient, trust your therapist and if you don't like something, let them know. Therapists are here to support those who ask us, so remember to collaborate with your therapy process as much as you can.