How Often Should You Have Therapy?
Weekly sessions are the most common default, but frequency is usually a decision you make together with your therapist based on what you're working on and what's realistic for you.
Common patterns
- Weekly - the most typical starting point, giving enough regularity to build momentum without being overwhelming
- Twice weekly - sometimes used for more intensive periods, or specific approaches that call for closer support
- Fortnightly or monthly - often used as things stabilise, or for ongoing maintenance rather than active work
Why consistency matters more than exact spacing
Therapy tends to work through cumulative, incremental change - skills practiced and reinforced session by session. Sessions spaced too far apart can make it harder to build momentum; a schedule you can actually stick to consistently usually beats an "ideal" frequency you keep missing.
What affects the right frequency for you
- How much is currently going on, and how urgently you want support
- The specific approach (structured programmes often specify a cadence, like online CBT's typical weekly pattern)
- Cost and time - see therapy cost for how frequency affects overall spend
- How things progress over time - frequency is rarely fixed for the whole course
Want a sense of your own likely cadence and cost together?
See Online Therapy Cost →- NHS - NHS talking therapies