Length Of Sessions For Psychotherapy

[Caldwell-Luc]

Is 30 minutes the most common length of time for a patient that is receiving both psychotherapy and medication treatments from a psychiatrist? Let's say if a patient receiving both has visits where only psychotherapy (medication may not have to be discussed in every visit) is done, is 30 minutes long enough for just that? What if the patient has a complex case?

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[shan564]

Depends on the illness, the therapeutic modality, frequency of sessions, the intensity of the therapy, etc. There's no "typical" time, although you probably couldn't do anything meaningful in less than 30 minutes.

 

[EEGNeurofeedback]

30 minutes is appropriate for someone who is pretty much stabilized with an uncomplicated case. Otherwise, not long enough in my opinion.

 

[slappy]

Where I'm at, 50 minutes is the norm, and as odd as this may sound, anything less is generally looked down upon by the other psychiatrists at the institution.

In my experience also, there is something that happens between the 30 and 45 minute marks - the patient is much more relaxed because most of his/her concerns are addressed already and the end of session is quite far away. That seems to allow for some interesting dynamics, and in a couple of occasions, breakthroughs.

 

[nitemagi]

To cite some fun other examples.

Lacan used to fill his waiting room and would see a patient for as long as he felt the session needed to go. Minutes or hours. When he felt they'd made the amount of progress he thought they should, he'd just tell them "OK, you're done."

I've known ISTDP therapists that do routine 3-hour sessions for a brief period (several times a week for a month).

I know of zero head-to-head trials of 30 min vs. 1 hour vs. longer, nor comparing frequency, let alone between modalities (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[Caldwell-Luc]

Where I'm at, 50 minutes is the norm, and as odd as this may sound, anything less is generally looked down upon by the other psychiatrists at the institution.

In my experience also, there is something that happens between the 30 and 45 minute marks - the patient is much more relaxed because most of his/her concerns are addressed already and the end of session is quite far away. That seems to allow for some interesting dynamics, and in a couple of occasions, breakthroughs.

Yes, I've experienced that myself as a patient.

 

[Caldwell-Luc]

To cite some fun other examples.

Lacan used to fill his waiting room and would see a patient for as long as he felt the session needed to go. Minutes or hours. When he felt they'd made the amount of progress he thought they should, he'd just tell them "OK, you're done."

I've known ISTDP therapists that do routine 3-hour sessions for a brief period (several times a week for a month).

I know of zero head-to-head trials of 30 min vs. 1 hour vs. longer, nor comparing frequency, let alone between modalities (correct me if I'm wrong).

Wow those long sessions would be really tiring for a patient. Imagine coming to a session after working a full day. And I am sure that the provider would burn out easily.