[gnosis]

I don't know about that. It's not like people aren't "processing information" either during or after the therapy sessions.

And is 4 sessions a week really "excessive"?

Remember that most therapy sessions are only 1 hour long (sometimes as little as 45 minutes, or even 30 minutes long).

It can feel very rushed to have to cram a description of and then a discussion of everything significant that's happened to you in the course of a full week in to just 1 hour of therapy, especially if you are going through a very rough time where there's a lot going on (both external and internal).

That's why many therapists prefer "intensive therapy" (ie. more frequent or perhaps longer sessions) for people going through a crisis, and then advise less frequent sessions as their lives stabilize.

That said, I think 1 hour per week is the norm in most types of therapy. 4 hours per week is relatively unusual.

[steve-howard]

Not to tell too much about my life and the lives of those close to me, but two hours a week is the crisis setting. If a therapist tells you anything of value about the way you think or behave, it takes some time to think about what that can mean for your life.