Is it useful to record therapy sessions?
Hi, I'm keen to start recording what I say in the sessions with my therapist. I think listening back / reflecting between sessions could help my recovery from depression.
Has anyone done it? Is it effective? How do I ask my therapist?
Thank you so much
@willingBike9124 I think some people have tried this, but I wasn't able to find any clear indications that it's useful. There's some discussion in this article: Is It OK To Record Your Therapy Sessions?
In most therapy the idea is to move on and change the way you feel about things. I would be concerned that listening to a recording could reset your feelings back to how you felt during the session, so it might be difficult to make progress.
Some therapists hand out lifestyle tips, and it might be useful to record them if they are not memorable, but these therapists usually provide printed handouts or links to websites.
I suppose you could mention that article to your therapist and ask for their opinion about it.
Charlie
@willingBike9124
I think it can vary greatly.
Last therapy I did was related to a diagnosis and misdiagnosis leading into it. It was really just talk sessions with a few suggestions as to what to do. I don't think recording those would have had any benefit for me.
Time before that was for exposure therapy, but the exposures weren't actually done with the therapist. We discussed what I would do, what my struggles were with doing the exposure, getting tips, etc. I found the handouts I was given and the notes I took to be good enough. I could see where recording that though could have been potentially beneficial, especially if someone had issues remembering things that were discussed or didn't want to jot down notes while there, etc.
