I've been lurking for a while and am now looking for some advice. My biggest fear is that I will quit and then if I need to go back, I'll be too embarrassed...I'll feel too needy to go back or like a failure...Uuuughh....I've just been feeling a lot of anxiety over all of this. I had a really bad week last week and I'm wondering if deep down I am sabatoging my progress to justify staying in therapy?!?!? I mean, if I quit, I'm not going to have this safe haven anymore? How do you know when you've done the right amount of work with someone to be able to be self sufficient on your own?

Hi Hals

Welcome!

I've often wondered about this same thing, though I'm no where near that place yet. I've asked my P and she tells me that we'll decide together when it's time. So I'd suggest you talk to your T and see what they have to say, together you'll be able to determine if your 'there' yet.

I've talked with my P and the answer is "you will know when it is time". Darn it, I figure I pay a professional to tell me when it's time! My P is very good at laying this back in my lap.

Well, to start with, you could talk to your T about reducing the frequency of your sessions. At one point, I thought I was about ready to stop therapy, so we switched from weekly to bi-weekly sessions. We discussed reducing them further until I just came back when I needed to. I don't think it's necessary to go "cold turkey."

In my case, I did sabotaged myself, but that is part of the stuff I'm working on now.