Member-only story
The Emerging Benefits of Short-Term Therapy
Not everyone needs months of talking to improve their mental health
What if you could get the benefits of ongoing, month- or yearlong therapy in less time — maybe even in just one session?
While there’s no formal definition, “short-term therapy” typically refers to treatments consisting of no more than 12 sessions, explains Ryan Howes, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Pasadena, California. “The idea with longer-term therapies is that it’s a good thing for people to come to revelations on their own through self-exploration and discovery. But some people find it refreshing to have a therapist say, ‘This is what you’re doing, this is why you’re doing that, and here’s how to get out of it.’”
These brief treatments appear to be beneficial for certain people and diagnoses, and most experts say they’re worth a try.
One of the newest and most extreme forms of short-term therapy consists of a single-session intervention (SSI). Jessica Schleider, PhD, director of the Lab for Scalable Mental Health and an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Stony Brook University, studies SSI with teenagers. The participants follow 30- to 45-minute online modules that teach them a new skill or way of thinking, such as increasing hope, boosting independent…
