Why Do I Cry After Therapy?

Content warning: This article includes references to PTSD, trauma, and other topics that may be potentially triggering. Please proceed with discretion. If you or a loved one are experiencing a crisis, it's important to reach out for support. You can contact the Crisis Text Line, which is available 24/7, by texting HOME to 741741.

Imagine you go to a regular therapy session feeling energized, optimistic, and ready to continue your journey to better mental health with a therapist you like and trust. However, instead of leaving feeling happy and relieved, you feel upset and exhausted by the time you finish the session. It's possible you may even begin to cry.

Does this sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. Crying after therapy can be a normal and even healthy response to the emotions and thoughts that are unearthed during a session, and it can often be considered a natural part of the therapeutic process. Still, it may be beneficial for your treatment to understand what causes a person to cry after therapy and what you do to recover after a tough session.

What makes you cry after therapy?

Many people turn to therapy for its proven short- and long-term mental health benefits. A licensed therapist can help people from all walks of life address various mental health concerns, ranging from major depressive disorder to PTSD to low self-esteem and everything in between. If therapy is supposed to help, you may wonder why your therapy sessions sometimes leave you upset or emotionally exhausted.

The answer often lies in the feelings that therapy can stir up. Most clients find themselves tackling tough challenges with their therapist from time to time, and these subjects can be the source of various challenging emotions.

It’s typical to feel a sense of emotional exhaustion after having dredged up those feelings again, which can lead people to cry either during or after a therapy session. These intense emotions don’t typically indicate that therapy isn’t working or that your treatment is making things worse. In fact, the opposite is often true.

In some cases, the type of therapy and the challenges it addresses also play a part in making a person cry after a therapy session. This response can be especially common in trauma work, often used in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Discussing past traumatic experiences can be an incredibly challenging process, and crying is a common response to the emotional stress of having to revisit those topics. 

Recovering after a tough therapy session

Although some may feel embarrassed about crying after therapy, or look for ways to stop crying, it’s important to remember that there is nothing shameful about having an emotional reaction to the topics you explore with your therapist. These instances of crying often occur after a patient has been encouraged to explore difficult key challenges, which may be instrumental in the overall effectiveness of your treatment.  That said, there are a variety of ways you can tend to your emotional, physical, and mental health after a challenging therapy session. A few options include:

• Mindfulness and meditation: Sometimes, it can be helpful to simply sit quietly with your thoughts after an intense therapy session. Mindfulness meditation can be a useful way to slow your breathing, decompress, and ground yourself in the present moment. 
• Journaling: Journaling after therapy can be helpful for sorting out your thoughts and feelings, expelling negative emotions, and reviewing what happened during therapy. Some find it helpful to “free write,” putting whatever thoughts come to them on the page, while others may benefit from going over what was discussed during the therapy session.
• Practice self-care: Self-care can take a variety of forms, such as a hot bath, physical exercise, yoga or stretching, or a healthy meal. Therapy can feel physically draining, so tending to your well-being can be an important aspect of recovering after a difficult session.
• Engage in activities you enjoy: Sometimes, it can be helpful to temporarily take your mind off the topics you discussed during therapy until you’ve had time to process them. You might consider socializing with friends, going for a walk, watching a movie you enjoy, or reading a good book. 
• Talk to your therapist: If you find yourself in distress after a therapy session, your therapist may have recommendations for tending to your mental health and emotions after your work together. Since they understand the topics that you’re working through together, they may have suggestions for grounding yourself and sorting through your feelings.  

Does online therapy make you cry?

Some patients are turning to online therapy as an alternative to in-person, face-to-face therapy for a number of reasons, including its affordability and effectiveness.  Since online therapy is administered virtually, it’s common for clients to wonder whether it will stir up the same emotions as in-person therapy. Because online therapy works the same way as traditional therapy, it’s not uncommon to get emotional during an online therapy session, much like you might feel during a traditional therapy session. 

If you’re prone to crying after therapy, online therapy through a platform like BetterHelp may be preferable to in-person treatment. Since you can attend sessions from the comfort of your own home, there is no need to commute to and from a therapist’s office while wrestling with intense emotions. Additionally, the ability to send messages to a therapist at any time, including outside of scheduled therapy sessions, may be helpful if you need extra support after a session has ended. 

The efficacy of online therapy

The efficacy of online therapy has been demonstrated in treating numerous mental health conditions. According to a review published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science, internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy was effective in treating symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, bipolar disorder, and more. In addition, a 2013 study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that online therapy was equally beneficial to in-person therapy in treating conditions like depression.