So I'll be upfront that I've been doing this quite a while -- Out of med school for over 10 years, in private practice for 6. I teach residents at UCLA how to do therapy.
But I still have difficulty ending sessions on time. I do a 50-minute hour, and need those few minutes in between to reset. But I frequently find myself pushing towards 60 minutes on the possibility that we'll make a little more progress.
Anyone else do this?
Any thoughts on approaches?
Caring for others and for ourselves is definitely a balancing act. Without that reset time, by the time the last client comes around, they're not getting our best.
Have you considered setting a gentle alarm bell (like a Tibetan bowl sound) for 50 minutes? That creates a gentle, but firm stop for both you and the client. Then you can take a couple of minutes, if needed, to wrap, leaving a solid five minutes (not much, but better than one or none) to breathe and reset.