Are You Stuck in Therapy? 5 Signs It’s Time to Try Something New
For years, you’ve been in weekly therapy. You’ve poured your heart out, explored your past, and gained incredible insights into why you feel and behave the way you do. But despite all the time, energy, and effort, you still feel… stuck. It’s frustrating, disheartening, and even a little confusing.
If this resonates with you, you’re not alone. It happened to me too. Many women find themselves hitting a plateau in traditional talk therapy. The good news is, it doesn’t mean therapy hasn’t worked for you. It might simply mean that the current approach to therapy isn’t addressing the core issues holding you back. Things changed for me when my therapist introduced me to EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and we began utilizing it in our sessions.
Here are five signs that indicated it was time for me to try something new:
1. Repeating the same patterns in relationships
I knew my attachment style and how my patterns formed but I was still stuck in the same cycles of people-pleasing, fears of abandonment and avoidance. Insight was powerful and important, but without the deeper healing, the patterns felt impossible to break.
2. Rehashing the same issues week after week
While it was incredibly valuable to have a safe space to process my experiences, after a while I knew (in my head) what I was doing and why, but it wasn’t enough to change what I was feeling and the decisions I was making. At some points along the journey, it didn’t feel like I was moving forward.
3. Decision-making felt paralyzing
I was struggling to make decisions, constantly second-guessing myself and worrying about what others would think. I understood this pattern came from a lifetime of prioritizing others’ needs over my own, but even with this understanding, it was hard to break free.
4. Still struggling with depression and anxiety
After years of therapy, my sadness and anxiety still feel persistent, like a low-grade hum I couldn’t turn off. I found sometimes anger showed up at unexpected times, but other times I couldn’t connect to it at all. These emotional challenges were impacting my quality of life.
5. Constantly seeking other ways to help me feel better
I found myself wondering, Will I ever feel better? I immersed myself in yoga, meditation, energy work and other holistic health practices. I know these practices contributed significantly to my healing…more on this in a future post…but there was still something that felt stuck.
Exploring a New Path Forward
EMDR where we targeted specific experiences from my childhood that impacted me unstuck something. It wasn’t a huge revelatory experience…a big “aha!” moment. The shift happened for me gently over time. I noticed I wasn’t making the same relationship decisions and my mood (and ability to manage it) improved. Decision making became clearer and I made a significant career change which led to my becoming a therapist.
If any part of my story sounds familiar to you, it might be time to explore a different approach to healing. EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is designed to go beyond traditional talk therapy by targeting the root causes and helping you process the impact of past experiences on a deeper level.
EMDR can be conducted in weekly sessions but another option gaining more popularity is EMDR Intensives. An intensive therapy session is a focused, short-term therapy model where you can accomplish the equivalent of months of weekly sessions in just a few days. Intensives are especially effective for women who are ready to move beyond insight and make meaningful progress toward feeling better.
You Don’t Have to Stay Stuck
Feeling stuck doesn’t mean therapy hasn’t worked for you—it means there’s more to your story that needs healing. You deserve to feel empowered, confident, and whole. And with the right approach, it’s absolutely possible.
Learn more about EMDR at www.emdria.org.
Looking for a weekly EMDR Therapist in Connecticut? Here is a directory of EMDR therapists in CT.
Learn more about EMDR Intensives for women.