Why Does Therapy Take So Long?

Therapy is a process of self-discovery and cannot be rushed

We live in a world obsessed with speed. We microwave our meals, fast-track our careers, and expect overnight transformations in every aspect of our lives. It's no surprise, then, that many arrive at psychotherapy with the unspoken hope that relief will come quickly, neatly, and preferably in six sessions or less. But unlike a broken bone or a faulty app, the human psyche does not lend itself to patchwork solutions. Psychotherapy takes time and sometimes a frustrating amount of it. Not because it is ineffective, but because it is deeply human.

The psyche is not a machine to be fixed. It is a story, a landscape, deeply layered and often mysterious even to ourselves. When we enter the therapeutic space, we are not merely seeking coping strategies, we are attempting to remember who we are beneath the noise. We are returning to places we may have abandoned long ago, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of pain, and occasionally without even realising we left.

Psychotherapy, in its truest form, is not about quick wins. It is a slow unfolding, a revealing of what has been hidden, neglected, or distorted. It is the process of untangling. Of translating bodily sensations into words. Of holding space for paradox, contradiction, and grief. It is about learning to stay, with discomfort, with uncertainty, with parts of ourselves we were taught to exile. And that takes time. Because truth, when it comes, often does so not as a bolt of insight, but as a gentle dawning.

Therapy acts as a rehearsal space for being. A place where, perhaps for the first time, we are fully seen. Not for our performance, but for our personhood. That kind of witnessing heals, but it is slow medicine. It must be earned through trust, consistency, and the courageous act of showing up even when it feels pointless. Especially when it feels pointless.

And so, if you have ever found yourself asking, “Why is this taking so long?”, know that it will take as long as it needs to. Not because you are broken. Not because you're doing it wrong. But because you are unravelling lifetimes of learning in order to become more fully yourself. There is no hack for that. Only the slow, sacred work of becoming.

In a world that rushes, therapy teaches us to slow down, to listen, to feel. To not just survive our lives, but to inhabit them fully.

And what could be more worth your time than that?

Until next time,

Trevor