Why You Might Feel Bad (Or Worse) After Therapy

Updated 10/16/2024

You finished chatting with your therapist and you feel bad, horrible even. It’s frustrating because therapy was supposed to make you feel better. Now you’re feeling awful, maybe worse than before you started therapy.

It is actually normal to occasionally feel bad or worse after therapy, especially during the beginning of your work with a therapist. It can be a sign of progress. As counterintuitive as it may sound, feeling bad during therapy can be good.

Possible Reasons You Might Feel Worse After Therapy

It’s not uncommon to experience negative feelings after a therapy session. Understanding the reasons behind these uncomfortable feelings can help you navigate your therapy journey more effectively. Here are some potential reasons why you might be feeling worse after starting therapy.

1. Confronting difficult emotions

Therapy often involves exploring and dealing with intense emotions and painful memories that you’ve previously avoided. Bringing these difficult emotions to the surface can be overwhelming, causing you to feel worse before you start to feel better. 

Rather than quickly talking away your burdens, you and your therapist are finding new issues, roots and revelations to tackle.

The good news is that feeling doesn’t last forever. This is a normal part of the healing process and acknowledging these feelings is the first step toward processing them.

2. Unpacking trauma

If you’re engaging in trauma therapy, discussing past traumatic experiences or childhood trauma can trigger distressing feelings. Revisiting these events can be painful, but it’s a crucial part of working through them. Feeling worse after these sessions doesn’t mean therapy isn’t working; rather, it’s an indication that you’re addressing deep-seated issues.

3. Emotional exhaustion

Processing heavy emotions requires significant energy. It’s natural to feel drained or emotionally fatigued after a session where you’ve explored challenging topics. This exhaustion can amplify feelings of sadness or irritability, but it’s typically temporary.

4. Breaking unhealthy coping mechanisms

Therapy encourages you to replace unhealthy coping mechanisms with healthier coping strategies. Letting go of familiar habits, even those that aren’t beneficial, can be uncomfortable. This discomfort can lead to feelings of anxiety or sadness as you adjust to new ways of coping.

5. High expectations and progress awareness

Sometimes, feeling worse is linked to the realization of how much work lies ahead in your therapeutic process. Recognizing the extent of your challenges can be daunting, leading to feelings of hopelessness or frustration. Remember that therapy is a journey, and progress takes time.

6. Therapist-client dynamics

Feeling disconnected from your therapist can impact how you feel after sessions. If you’re not entirely comfortable with your therapist or feel they might not be the right therapist for you, it could contribute to negative feelings. A strong therapeutic relationship is essential for effective therapy, so consider discussing your feelings with them or exploring other mental health professionals if needed. If you feel that it’s not a great fit, you can always switch therapists to get the proper support you need.

7. Unresolved issues surfacing

As therapy progresses, you might uncover underlying issues you weren’t initially aware of. The emergence of new concerns can be unsettling, leading to increased anxiety or sadness. However, identifying these issues is a critical step toward healing.

8. Resistance to change

Change can be challenging, even when it’s positive. You might experience internal resistance as you work to alter long-standing thought patterns or behaviors. This resistance can manifest as feeling worse after therapy sessions, but pushing through it is key to personal growth.

9. Comparisons and self-judgment

It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing your progress to others or judging yourself harshly for not “feeling better” quickly. This self-imposed pressure can exacerbate negative feelings. Be patient with yourself and acknowledge that everyone’s therapy journey is unique.

10. Activation of defense mechanisms

Sometimes, discussing deep-seated issues can activate psychological defenses, leading to increased distress. Recognizing these defenses is part of the therapeutic work and can initially make you feel worse before leading to breakthroughs.

Understanding the Therapy Journey

Psychotherapy works, according to many studies. It won’t produce results immediately, though. Unlike medication that takes the edge off symptoms right away, psychotherapy provides powerful long-term benefits and symptom reduction.

Depending on the severity of your issues or mental health condition, it might take weeks or months to feel significantly better. Once you start feeling better, that doesn’t mean the rough days are over. You might still leave therapy feeling bad every once in awhile. There will be new revelations that could shake you up.

Nonetheless, the overall trend will be positive. Think of psychotherapy and your feelings like this graph:

Notice there is a little dip that might happen in the beginning.

There are lows, but the lows become less painful and the highs get higher. Psychotherapy will make you happier over time.

Coping with Therapy’s Temporary Lows

When you experience the lows, there are a few ways to cope. You can reach out to your therapist and see if he or she has any feedback. Your therapist will comfort you and might offer insights similar to the ones in this article.

“I respond in a supportive manner, normalizing their feelings and reassuring them that throughout the therapy process there will be times when after our sessions they will continue to process discomfort,” said therapist Candice Christiansen. “This is all part of healing, and in time they will get to a place where they feel more comfortable in managing their discomfort.”

Christiansen recommended clients who feel bad after therapy try recording their thoughts and feelings in a journal. If you use text based online therapy, you can use your chat room with a therapist as a journal, too.

Either way you are going to feel better. Remember, it is OK to feel bad after therapy. If you hang in there and move through the process, it will be worth it.