Navigating Your Feelings After a Tough Session
Therapy can sometimes take a toll on your emotions and thoughts, especially after a session where you might be especially vulnerable or processing a major event that was impactful to you. Some individuals, couples, and families leave session wondering “Now what?” “How can we talk to each other after talking about ____?” Or , “I don’t know what to do until next week or our next appointment.” Here are some helpful tips to guide you after having a challenging session and being lost as to what to do in-between sessions.
First and foremost, if you are in crisis or in an emergency, please contact 911 or your local crisis center. Our office is located in Montgomery County, so our local hotline is 240-777-4000. Alternatively, you may call 988 the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
If it is not an emergency and you, you and your spouse or you and your family are leaving a session feeling overwhelmed, emotionally or cognitively drained, or lost here are some helpful suggestions.
1. Take time after session to process independently, some suggestions include journaling, talking aloud to yourself, or recording a personal voice memo about your thoughts, feelings, reactions to the session. It might be helpful to share your reflections in the next session with your therapist or to reflect on your notes once you feel calm and relaxed.
2. Take some time to ground yourself by doing a soothing activity or something that relaxes you. For some individuals that might mean taking a walk outside, taking a bath or shower, enjoying your favorite snack or beverage, or engaging in a hobby or activity that is slow-paced.
3. Take a break from the challenging conversation that was brought up in session. Try not to further discuss with your family, children, or spouse, what was activating in your session. Take some time to create some space away from talking about it.
4. Maintain healthy sleep, eating, and daily routines. Reminding yourself about the areas of your life that are within your control and creating healthy patterns of consistency.
5. Limit screen-time. Try to not jump to scrolling on your phone, working on emails or work projects, or watching a show or movie. Oftentimes, our devices can be great distractions but are not the best at replenishing or restoring our minds and bodies when trying to regulate our nervous system.
6. Ask your therapist to help you navigate how to process your emotions in-between sessions, it might be helpful to explore if having sessions weekly instead of biweekly may be helpful, or carving out an hour after therapy to re-center before returning to your day could be beneficial. Your therapist may be able to help guide you with additional resources and support for tough moments after sessions.
-Chima