Recovering from a mental illness isn't much different than recovering from any physical problems; both of them take time and therefore you need to be patient (pun somewhat intended, I guess). That's why I went to a therapist for so long. Whatever that is inside you has probably been there for quite a while and Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes. You decide together with the therapist how many sessions you'll participate in. Also, the first session of mine went mostly to make a plan that included why I was there, which type of treatment I felt most comfortabe with, what my goals were, and so on. One should be as specific as possible. This way you can look back at a set date and review progress. Maybe you need to try something different, who knows? I had once a week for most of the time, with the possibility to increase the frequency if there was something special. The clue is, though, to be there regularly.
Most of the work is done between the sessions as you put to practice what you've talked about. I even had homework from time to time; they could vary from taking notes on what I was thinking or feeling when having an anxiety attack, to spending time outside among people. Things like these may feel odd or silly yet I believe there is a reason for it. How useful each session is depends on how much you are willing to push yourself out of your comfortzone.
Another thing is to go through with any medicines you're taking. I've been taking medicine for some years now to correct a chemical imbalance, and I can really tell if I forget it one day. It happens, I'm not going to lie, but I feel that I'm rather good at not forgetting my daily dose, so to speak. How I notice that I've forgot it is that I get really dizzy, sick, anxiety's through the roof and generally exhausted. So there's a motivation in itself to not forget.
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