How to Get More Out of Therapy Between Sessions

Therapy happens in 50-minute increments. Your life happens in the other 10,030 minutes of the week. If you're only doing the work during sessions, you're leaving most of therapy's potential on the table.

The research is clear: clients who engage with their therapy between sessions — through reflection, homework, and intentional practice — see significantly better outcomes. This article covers exactly how to make those between-session hours count.

Why Between-Session Work Matters

Think of therapy like learning a language. Your therapist is the teacher, and sessions are the classes. But if you never practice outside of class, you won't become fluent. The same principle applies to therapy:

• Insights need reinforcement. An "aha moment" in session fades without follow-up. Revisiting insights cements them into lasting understanding.
• Skills require practice. Coping strategies, communication techniques, and mindfulness practices only work when you use them in real situations.
• Patterns emerge over time. Tracking your thoughts and feelings throughout the week reveals patterns that a single session snapshot can't capture.
• Continuity accelerates progress. When you arrive at your next session already clear on where you left off, you can go deeper instead of spending time catching up.

6 Between-Session Habits That Accelerate Progress

1. Reflect on Your Sessions

Therapy reflection is the practice of reviewing what you discussed and how it connects to your life. Within 24 hours of your session, spend 10 minutes writing or thinking about:

• What was the most important thing we discussed?
• What emotions came up, and why?
• What do I want to do differently this week?

If you struggle to remember sessions, consider recording them so you have material to reflect on.

2. Complete Your Therapy Homework

Therapy homework — whether it's a thought record, a behavioral experiment, or a journaling prompt — is assigned for a reason. It helps translate session insights into real-world changes. Treat it like a prescription: it works best when you follow through.

3. Track Your Moods and Thoughts

You don't need a complicated system. A simple daily check-in — rating your mood from 1-10, noting what triggered strong emotions, and capturing any recurring thoughts — gives you and your therapist valuable data to work with.

4. Practice New Skills in Real Life

If your therapist taught you a grounding technique, use it when you feel anxious. If you discussed setting boundaries, practice saying "no" to a small request. Each real-world application strengthens the neural pathways that make the skill automatic.

5. Prepare for Your Next Session

Before your next appointment, take 5 minutes to think about:

• What went well this week?
• What was challenging?
• Is there anything specific I want to discuss?

Arriving with a focus means you spend less time warming up and more time doing meaningful work.

6. Use a Therapy Companion App

A therapy companion app can streamline all of the above. Instead of juggling a journal, a mood tracker, and a homework list, you have one place that:

• Records and transcribes your sessions automatically
• Extracts themes, emotions, and action items automatically
• Tracks your goals and progress over time
• Sends gentle reminders to reflect and complete homework

What the Research Says

Multiple studies have found that between-session engagement is one of the strongest predictors of therapy outcomes. Clients who complete homework assignments show significantly more improvement than those who don't. Reflection and self-monitoring between sessions are associated with faster symptom reduction and more durable change.

The mechanism is straightforward: therapy gives you insights and tools, but lasting change requires integrating those into your daily life. Between-session work is where that integration happens.

Getting Started

You don't need to overhaul your routine. Start with one habit:

• Easiest: Spend 5 minutes after each session writing down the key takeaway.
• More involved: Keep a brief daily mood journal and review it before sessions.
• Most comprehensive: Use Therapy Mallard to record sessions, track goals, and reflect — all in one place.

The best system is the one you'll actually use. Start small, build the habit, and notice how much faster therapy starts working.

Frequently Asked Questions