What defines “success”?
What is the success rate of a dinner with your spouse? (Maybe good communication, loving feelings and tasty food?)
What is the success rate of a walk in the park?
What is the success rate of a day?
Clients come out of sessions feeling elated, bored, changed, anxious and very depressed, among the many possible reactions to a session. None of these are necessarily signs of either success or failure.
Most clients come to me for issues that have been with them 20, 30 or 40+ years. It would be absurd to think that any of these would be resolved in a year, much less 45 minutes.
Mental health is not black and white. Therapy is not measured in binary terms. Many people come in for one issue, discover it’s really something else 2 months later, and have new goals a year later. Goals are individual. It’s not static but always changing. For some, it’s about being the best version of themselves, and there is always more room to grow.