The Magic of Therapy is Clarity.

I’ve noticed that some clients think therapists are magicians and that therapy is magic.  And if the magic doesn’t kick in after one or two sessions (3 tops!), then therapy isn’t working.  Now the thing is, therapy can begin to “work” after one or two sessions, depending on the client and the presenting problem.  It may even work after one session, and this is where therapy can be magical–if we understand what the magic really is.

The magic of therapy is clarity.

It’s when clients (not therapists) have a clear view of where they are in life and where they want to be.  I’ve seen this over and over again as a therapist.  I’ve seen the magic of just defining a problem clearly.  And the power of a clear goal united to a clear motivation to achieve that goal.  Sometimes, after one session, if these two things happen:  1) a clearly defined problem with 2) a clearly defined goal, the client no longer needs the therapist, which is what the therapist ultimately wants any way.  Good therapists want to work themselves out of a job.  They don’t want clients to need therapy or the therapist. 

So the magic is shared by clients and therapists.  They create a momentum in therapy that brings about a series of unexplainable “coincidences” in clients’ lives.  Again, I’ve seen the following scenarios happen time and time again:  A clients clearly defines the problem and the goal, and things start to happen in the client’s life that coincidentally match the therapeutic goal!