How to Know When Therapy is Working

Chloe
Aug 25
3 min read

Therapy doesn’t always look like the movies.

There’s rarely a sudden “lightbulb moment” where everything changes in an instant. More often, it’s a gentle unfolding a slow exhale you didn’t realise you were holding.

At heyfromwithin.co.uk, I often hear people ask, “How will I know if therapy is actually helping?”

The answer isn’t a single sign, but a series of subtle shifts in your thoughts, your body, your relationships, and the way you meet yourself.

Your body starts to feel safer

In Sensorimotor Art Therapy, we recognise that the body holds the story sometimes long before the mind can tell it. When therapy begins to work, your nervous system may start to settle.

That can look like:

Breathing a little deeper without realising it.
Feeling less “on edge” in everyday situations.
Noticing tension in your shoulders, jaw, or stomach soften over time.

And sometimes, it can bring the opposite:

Fatigue — because your body finally feels safe enough to rest, after years of being in survival mode.
Unexpected tears or strong emotions as long-held feelings find space to be seen.

Both are signs your system is shifting and recalibrating.

You start responding differently

Attachment theory tells us our early experiences shape how we connect with others. As therapy works, you might find you:

Pause before reacting in conflict.
Express needs more directly.
Set boundaries that once felt impossible.

These changes may feel small but they’re the building blocks of new, healthier patterns.

You can hold discomfort for longer

In the Person-Centred Approach, we trust in your inner capacity for growth. Therapy doesn’t remove all pain or difficulty but it can help you stay present with it without feeling overwhelmed.

Maybe you can now:

Sit with uncertainty without rushing to fix it.
Name a feeling instead of avoiding it.
Ask for help when you need it.

You notice your inner critic soften

Where you might once have been harsh or dismissive towards yourself, you start to hear a gentler voice.

It might sound like:

“That was hard, but I did my best.”
“I deserve rest.”
“I can try again tomorrow.”

This compassion is a sign that your relationship with yourself the most important one you’ll ever have is healing.

You feel more connected to your creativity

Whether through guided drawing, clay, or collage, creative processes in art therapy can help you reconnect with curiosity and play.

When therapy is working, you might find yourself experimenting more both in the therapy space and in life.

What the numbers say — and what they can’t

In some settings, therapists use psychometric tools like:

CORE-OM (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure). This is a questionnaire that tracks wellbeing, problems, functioning, and risk over time.
Goal Based Outcomes (GBOs) where you set personal goals at the start of therapy and track progress towards them.

These can be helpful markers, especially in short-term therapy, and can give a sense of movement in areas that matter to you.

But they also have limits:

A score can’t capture the texture of feeling safer in your own skin.
Numbers might not reflect the deep work happening beneath the surface.
Some changes in therapy are internal, subtle, and slow and may not show up on paper straight away.

So while these tools can offer snapshots, they’re just one lens. The most meaningful signs of progress often live in how you feel, connect, and respond in daily life.