Have Your Therapy In The Morning
I have always said that because of work commitments people will often choose to come for their therapy sessions in the evening after work. After all, therapy needs to fit into a person’s life. However, research done at Southern Methodist University has put forward the premise that it is better to have your therapy in the morning. In the morning there is a hormone which can help facilitate a more effective therapeutic experience. “The hormone cortisol is thought to facilitate fear extinction in certain therapeutic situations”.
This research goes on to say that the greatest therapeutic gains made by participants were made by those people who attended therapy in the morning as opposed to other times of the day. Factors which affected these results included memory and learning and the body’s natural circadian rhythm, quantity and quality of sleep, attention control, and interactions between those factors and others.
Obviously if we consider the additional factors, it is possible to have good therapeutic success at any time of the day, as these factors are relevant to good physical as well as mental health. Perhaps therapists and clients who need to consider doing their sessions before rather than after work to maximise therapeutic success.
