What To Do When You Have A Breakthrough In Therapy

Fiordaliso via Getty Images Therapy comes with major realizations that can change your world. According to Karen Oliver, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, a breakthrough moment is “not the last step in therapy, it’s actually a very important beginning to middle step.” It can lay the groundwork for your therapy sessions and establish a goal for you to work toward with your therapist. Instead, the aha moment requires “a significant shift in your worldview and the way that you see life for you to be able to sit with it.” This realization shakes up your world enough that you see your experience, your decisions and yourself pretty differently, and if you try to go through life without any change, you’re going to be really uncomfortable, she added. Not only can this help you bring awareness to how you’re feeling, but it can help you commit to any new personal goals that emerged from your “aha moment.” According to Oliver, five minutes of deep breathing “gives you a choice point, it gives you a moment to say, ‘OK, I’m feeling anxious. “It’s really important to stay in therapy and allow the therapist to help you continue practicing this in a safe environment.” She added that no one is going to completely change their behavior and thought process after a big therapy session; committing to personal change is a process some days will be hard and some days will be easy.