By Nicholas Singh, Founder of MindFit®. Reviewed by MindFit® Clinical Advisors.
TL;DR
- After physical therapy, you get exercises to keep the progress you made.
- After mental therapy, there’s no standard set of exercises. You’re on your own.
- MindFit® built one: short daily workouts using techniques from clinical psychology.
On this page: The gap nobody mentions · Before you stop · Before, during and after · Making the transition · FAQ
When you finish physical therapy, you get a sheet of exercises. Three sets of these, twice a day, and here’s what to watch for. The exercises are how you keep the progress once the appointments stop.
When you finish mental therapy, you usually get insight, some skills, and no sheet.
The gap nobody mentions
Physical fitness is to physical therapy what mental fitness is to mental therapy.
Both kinds of therapy are trying to get you to the point where you don’t need them. Only one of them sends you home with a plan for staying there.
Maintenance isn’t what the therapy hour is for, and most therapists will tell you to keep using what you learned. But “keep using it” is a hope, not a plan. And practice is the part that matters: in cognitive behavioral therapy, people who do the work between sessions get better outcomes than people who don’t (Kazantzis et al., 2016).
Before you stop
Deciding when to end or pause therapy is a decision to make with your therapist. Tell them you’re thinking about it.
If you’re thinking about stopping because you feel ready, say so and plan it together. If you’re thinking about stopping because sessions have started to feel stuck, that’s worth saying out loud too. It’s a normal thing to raise and a good therapist would rather hear it than have you disappear.
Nothing in this article is a reason to leave care you still need.
Training before, during and after therapy
Mental fitness training does something different at each stage.
Before. Building skills like emotional regulation and stress tolerance ahead of time means you arrive able to use the hour, instead of spending the first month learning the vocabulary.
During. Therapy gives you the concepts. Practice makes them automatic. Start with whatever your therapist has assigned you, and treat everything else as an addition to that.
After. You keep the skills. What you lose is the weekly structure that kept them sharp, and a short daily practice is what replaces it.
Making the transition intentional
Four things worth doing if you’re winding down.
1. Book a wrap-up session. Use a final appointment for closure specifically. Ask what to keep practicing, what to watch for, and what would tell you it’s worth coming back. Most people never think to ask.
2. Get a baseline. Take the free Mental Fitness Test and see where you’re strong and where you’re thin across nine attributes. It’s a self-assessment, not a clinical measure. But knowing which attribute is weakest tells you what to train first.
3. Start something daily and small. Five minutes beats an hour on Sunday. A skill you practice daily is there when you need it.
4. Check in on yourself monthly. What’s holding, what’s slipping, what stopped working. Progress isn’t linear and a bad month isn’t a failure. If things slide far enough that you’re worried, book another session. That’s what they’re for.
Leaving well
Leaving therapy shouldn’t feel like stepping off a ledge. You did the work, you have the skills, and what’s missing is the thing physical therapy hands you as a matter of course: something to do on Tuesday.
Build that, and the progress you made stays yours.
You can try a live exercise now.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know when I’m ready to stop therapy?
That’s a decision to make with your therapist rather than on your own. Common reasons people raise it include feeling steady for a sustained period, having met the goals you came in with, or sessions feeling like they’ve plateaued. All of those are worth saying out loud in a session rather than acting on quietly.
Will I lose my progress after therapy ends?
Skills fade when they stop being practiced, the same as any other. The research on cognitive behavioral therapy finds that clients who practice between sessions get better outcomes (Kazantzis et al., 2016), which suggests the practice is doing real work. Keeping some structured practice after therapy ends is a reasonable way to protect what you built.
Is mental fitness training a replacement for therapy?
No. Therapy is professional treatment delivered by a clinician. Mental fitness training is skill practice, informed by techniques from clinical psychology but not a substitute for care. If you’re struggling, seek professional support.
Can I use mental fitness training while I’m still in therapy?
Yes, and the most useful thing you can practice is whatever your therapist has assigned you. Treat anything else as an addition to that. If you’re unsure whether something fits with what you’re working on, ask them.
What should I do in my last therapy session?
Ask for specifics: which techniques to keep practicing, what warning signs to watch for, and what would justify booking again. Write it down. A plan you can read in six months is worth more than a good feeling on the day.
Sources
Kazantzis, N., Whittington, C.J., Zelencich, L., Kyrios, M., Norton, P.J., & Hofmann, S.G. (2016). Quantity and quality of homework compliance: a meta-analysis of relations with outcome in cognitive behavior therapy. Behavior Therapy, 47(5), 755–772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2016.05.002
MindFit® is training, not treatment, and it isn’t a substitute for therapy. If you’re struggling with your mental health, speak to a doctor or a mental health professional.