Making the Most of Between-Session Assignments

Therapy needn't be (and often isn't) confined to the time you spend in session. The sessions themselves, and the opportunity they provide for honesty, are central. So is what happens between them, including the time spent thinking back over a session and what came up in it.

Depending on the type of therapy you are in, this could involve reflecting on what happens in the session, engaging relationships and memories with more honesty, journalling, preparing for the next session, and applying what you've discussed.

More practical and structured therapies like CBT or DBT include assignments between sessions, also known as therapy homework, which connect what is discussed in therapy with daily life.

Whether the approach you are in is highly structured or more open-ended, these tasks are intended to support self-awareness and change.

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Understanding Between-Session Assignments

Purpose of Assignments

Between-session assignments are usually there to reinforce what you’ve worked on during sessions, or to practise the skills or principles discussed. They give you a chance to try new strategies in real situations, which is often how an idea discussed in a session becomes something you can actually use.

Working in this way between sessions helps the therapy carry over into everyday life rather than staying in the consulting room.

Types of Assignments

Assignments vary depending on your therapeutic goals and the nature of your therapy.

Common examples include:

• Journalling: Writing about your daily experiences and emotions, which is often used to support self-reflection and insight.
  
• Behavioural Experiments: Trying a new behaviour and noticing how it affects your thoughts and feelings, which can make an unhelpful pattern easier to see and change.
  
• Mindfulness Practices: Regular mindfulness exercises, commonly used to support emotional regulation and to manage stress.
  
• Open-ended tasks: In less structured therapies, assignments may be looser, focusing on self-directed exploration or on following up something that emerged in a session.

Benefits of Completing Assignments

Consolidating Learning

Completing between-session assignments is one way of consolidating what is worked on in therapy. Applying a technique in different situations gives you practice at handling similar difficulties on your own. Repetition in ordinary settings is part of how a change tends to hold.

Carrying the Work Forward

Working on your therapeutic goals outside of sessions gives you more occasions to notice what happens and to bring that back into the room. Across cognitive behavioural trials, clients who completed more of the between-session work tended to do better, both at the end of treatment and at follow-up (Kazantzis and colleagues, 2016). That is an association rather than proof that the assignments on their own caused the improvement, and how much difference it makes still varies from person to person and between therapies.

Building Confidence

Completing these assignments can build confidence in managing difficulties. In the research literature that confidence has a name, self-efficacy: your belief in your own ability to carry out what a situation asks of you. Bandura’s account of it is that these beliefs shape whether you attempt a coping behaviour at all, how much effort you put into it, and how long you keep going when it is hard (Bandura, 1977). He held that the strongest source of self-efficacy is having actually done the thing rather than having been told about it, which is part of why the work between sessions is worth doing yourself.

Strategies for Engaging with Assignments

Setting Routine

Fitting therapy assignments into your daily or weekly routine makes them easier to keep up. Set aside a specific time each day or week for these tasks. Regularity helps a new behaviour or way of thinking become more familiar.

Goal Setting

Specific and achievable goals for each assignment give you something concrete to start on. For example, if your task is to journal daily, set a goal to write for at least 10 minutes each evening.

Using Support Systems

Your support system can help you complete assignments. Sharing your goals with a trusted friend or family member gives you encouragement and some accountability. For some people, knowing that someone else is aware of the commitment makes it easier to follow through.

Overcoming Challenges with Assignments

Dealing with Resistance

It’s natural sometimes to resist completing assignments, especially when they push you to confront uncomfortable emotions or situations. Acknowledge this resistance and discuss it with your therapist. Together, you can explore the reasons behind the hesitance and adjust the assignments to make them more manageable and relevant.

Adjusting Assignments

If you find specific assignments too challenging or not helpful, tell your therapist. Assignments can usually be modified to suit your current needs and capacity, so that they remain a useful part of your therapy.

Navigating Emotional Responses

Coping with Emotional Intensity

Working on difficult material in your assignments can bring up strong emotional responses. It helps to have ways of managing these. Paced breathing, mindfulness, or physical activity such as walking can steady you before, during and after an assignment. Having these to hand makes it more likely you can stay with a difficult task without becoming overwhelmed. If something consistently leaves you distressed, raise it with your therapist.

Post-Session Care

Looking after yourself after an intense session or a demanding assignment matters. Plan something that helps you settle. A hobby, meditation, or time outdoors are all reasonable choices. Taking that time gives what came up a chance to settle rather than following you straight into the rest of the day.

Key Takeaways

• Active Engagement: Completing between-session assignments involves you actively in your own treatment and carries the work of therapy into daily life.
  
• Self-Awareness: Applying what is discussed in therapy to real situations is one of the ways people come to understand their own patterns better.
  
• Practice: Regular engagement with assignments gives you more occasions to practise what is discussed in sessions, and more to bring back into the room.
  
• Confidence: Working through assignments can build confidence, or self-efficacy, in your ability to manage difficulties, and doing the thing is what builds it.
  
• Fit: An assignment that doesn’t suit you can be changed. Say so, rather than dropping it quietly.

FAQ

What if I don’t complete my assignments?

Discuss any missed assignments with your therapist so that what got in the way can be understood. That discussion is often useful in itself, and it usually leads to adjustments that make the assignments more doable.

How can I make time for these assignments in my busy schedule?

Treat therapy assignments like any other important appointment. Scheduling a specific time for them in your calendar puts them into your daily or weekly routine rather than leaving them to spare moments.

What should I do if I find an assignment too difficult?

Tell your therapist if an assignment feels too challenging. It can be adjusted to match what you are able to take on at the moment.

Can I suggest my assignments based on what I feel I need to work on?

Yes. Suggesting your own assignments is welcome, and it often makes the work more relevant to you. Your therapist can help shape the idea so that it fits what you are working on together.

References

• Kazantzis, N., Whittington, C., 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. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2016.05.002
• Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191

Additional Resources

• Souders, B. (reviewed by Lancia, G.). 20 Positive Psychotherapy Exercises, Sessions and Worksheets. PositivePsychology.com, updated 2025.
• Verywell Mind, article on the purpose and benefits of therapy homework.