Summertime Therapy Reflections

Katherine [Katu] Medina-Pineda, MHC-LP

Summer time is here and with it comes hot weather, longer periods of daylight, and the harvest of a great variety of fruits and vegetables. Summer time in our society also means breaks from school and university for a lot of people in addition to an increase in social activity with the more permissive weather. For many, summer is longed for the remainder of the year and represents increased quality time with loved ones, outdoor activities like beach days, and a sense of feeling energized and eager to be outside. However, in the context of our system and the enforcement of routines that prioritize work, navigating summertime zoomies with scheduled responsibilities can easily become a precarious balancing act that can lead folks to sit out plans they are eager to partake in or forgoing scheduled responsibilities in favor of these seasonally limited activities. 

Therapy, like work, can become a scheduled routine that feels manageable during the rest of the year and is tough to manage during the summer and possibly the holiday season in the fall/winter as well. Knowing this, I hope to offer some perspective to help make sense of how to honor the different needs that may come with this particular season and make informed decisions on how you would like to balance therapy with your summer plans. 

Understand All Your Options

While work- more often than not- will be rigid in its expectations of employees regardless of the seasons, therapy (specially in a private practice setting) is actually more fluid and creative. There are many different ways to navigate therapy during the summertime. For instance, if there are many different vacations or trips planned, a person may have a hard time finding a consistent time to meet during that period and a temporary break may be needed. Perhaps your summer routine of going to the beach a certain number of times per week calls for rescheduling appointments to a different time that can be consistently reserved for therapy. There can also be adjustments in terms of cadence or even the possibility of flexibility with meeting virtually or in person. 

The important thing to remember is to talk through what the best option would be for your treatment with your therapist! Every clinician will have their own policies and boundaries, which combined with the therapist’s and client’s assessment of treatment progress can be enormously fruitful ground from which to gain insight that will ultimately help the client make an informed decision about their treatment during the summer.  

Short Breaks or Indefinite Breaks

During this time of reflection on how to relate to therapy during the summer, it will be helpful to contextualize the progress made in treatment. It is absolutely fair and fine to take an indefinite break from therapy, starting in the summer, regardless of whether you have accomplished all of your treatment goals. However, the important aspects to keep in mind is to engage in that collaborative assessment of your progress with the therapist in order to understand your strengths and challenges. Therapy is not a perfectly linear treatment in which an individual who completes treatment is devoid of challenges. Sometimes, graduating from therapy is needed to allow oneself to experiment with the insights and tools that have been learned up to that point; and graduating from therapy does not mean you can never return to treatment later in life. 

Some therapeutic settings or individual therapists may have nuanced policies on ending treatment before the goals have been completed, however, I think it is important to mention that the mental health industrial complex will require perfectionism from therapists and clients alike. It may feel wrong to want a break when you can tell there are still challenges that are difficult to navigate, however, therapy is a ton of work! Where shame or guilt around taking a break might surface, something helpful to remember is that everything is temporary: a break may be needed now and therapy may be needed later. It is fair to want rest from being in a constant state of self-reflection while knowing there are still things you would like to address. If it feels like time to take a break, my only hope is that clients feel brave and comfortable naming that with their therapists and honor that endings are smoothest when all parties are aware that the relationship is changing. 

Conclusion

Reflection, flexibility, and communication are your main tools to navigate therapy in relation to summertime plans and hopes. It can be helpful to start conversations with your therapist in the springtime or early summer to make an informed decision on whether a scheduling shift or a temporary break may be beneficial to honor the wants and needs that arise during the summertime. It will be helpful to engage in logistical conversations with your therapist in order to understand how your treatment progress, scheduling needs, and therapist capacity can guide your decision-making process with regards to therapy during this season. Above all things, have compassion for yourself– whether it be deciding to prioritize treatment continuation for the sake of your mental health, or to take a break from therapy for the very same reason. It is ok to want changes during different periods of your life in order to accommodate your own responses to your environment.