When you no longer feel that the therapy is beneficial. I thought you were seeing a psychiatrist.

@LostInParadise I graduated from the program run by the psychiatrist two years ago.

You aren’t getting psychological therapy, you are the practice dummy for psychology students. You are the same as the person that goes to the cosmetology school so the students can have an actual person to practice on.

If you are getting something out of this, more power to you. But by your question and your explanation it sounds like it is annoying and they have you believing you are somehow in need of their services.

@seawulf575 Correct. Only costs $10/hour. My GP wants me to keep seeing them.

Student psychologists give high value therapy. They are supervised rigorously by upper level psychologists and professors. You do not have to worry about quality.

I have been in continous therapy for 26 years. It is highly beneficial for me. I have overcome many grave difficulties with the help of therapists. I have benefited enormously from their guidance.

I suggest you simply don’t think about how long you need to continue. Instead I believe it would be good to think about goals you want to work towards. You can ask the young psychologists to help you think of goals. My current goal is to be surrounded by kindness for myself, for others, and from others. That’s an example.

Keep seeing the students. They’re doing good work, and you provide a valuable service to them giving them real world experience.

@RedDeerGuy1 Hey, the service offers you a real person to talk to. That must be of some benefit!

I used to ask that a lot, too. After 30+ years of therapy, off and on, with PhD level psychologists and Masters level couselors, I knew I was done when I was just chit-chatting with a female counselor rather than really working on anything. I enjoyed it and obviously had her undivided attention, and she enjoyed it too, but I was wasting my money and her time, so I quit. That doesn’t mean I’m “all better”, it just means nothing was pressing or interfering with my life at the time. That was about 3 years ago. So if you’re looking for things to discuss relative to your mental health, maybe you’re ready to at least take a break. That’s the best I can offer.

I think there are only two reasons to go to therapy. A; you want to and it just feels healthy. In that case, you could keep going your whole life. Or B; there’s something specific you want to work on, possibly prompted by other people. For example, maybe the GP believes you have some problematic habits. In that case, they should share their thinking with you. You can ask about this when you see your GP. Once you have some concrete goals to work towards in therapy, you should absolutely share them with your therapist. Then, you’ll know you’re done with therapy after you’ve reached them. A good therapist will help you stay on track by writing down some goals at the start of sessions and evaluating your progress regularly.

Wow.
I love @smudges’ answer!

I think it is a perfect, experienced, logical opinion.

I couldn’t possibly add anything to it. f3 (I tried to make a thumbs up.)

Chronic problems aren’t easily resolved. I consider myself mostly fine, but I see a counselor every couple months, just to help keep me balanced. I wouldn’t be looking for the endgame if I were you, just a way to keep going. Call it the infinity wars.