Post-Therapy Fatigue: Why You Feel Drained

You finish a therapy session, close your laptop, and suddenly the world feels heavier. Your mind is foggy, your body weighed down, and your emotions unsettled. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone.

Many of us are surprised by how exhausting therapy can feel, as we carry fatigue or emotional residue long after a session ends. Often called a therapy hangover or post-therapy fatigue, these experiences are a normal part of emotional processing and therapy recovery.

There are practical ways to help you land after therapy.

What Is a Therapy Hangover?

A therapy hangover is the foggy, drained feeling that can follow deep or emotionally challenging sessions. Your mind feels clouded, your body heavy, and your emotions unsettled.

These feelings often arise after confronting difficult truths, exploring long-held patterns, or allowing yourself to be fully vulnerable.

Knowing this is a normal part of therapy recovery can help you approach sessions with patience and self-compassion.

Why This Matters for Your Healing

It’s common to feel worse before you feel better in therapy. Therapy can bring up emotions and memories we’ve been avoiding, and working through them takes effort. Your mind and body need time to process.

Experiencing post-therapy fatigue is a normal part of emotional recovery.

Think of it like as like cleaning a garage that has been packed for years. Before it can feel organized, you need to take everything out into the driveway. At first, it may look worse before it looks better. Your inner world works the same way.

Feeling mentally or physically drained after therapy is not a flaw. It means your mind and body are doing the heavy lifting of genuine change.

If you want to explore why therapy discomfort can be part of growth, see my post about When Therapy Feels Hard.

Why Self-Care After Therapy Is Essential

Self-care after therapy is crucial. It’s not just bubble baths or face masks, although those are fine too. It means practical, everyday steps that help your nervous system settle and support your recovery.

Your brain has just done serious work. You have made yourself vulnerable and faced emotions you might usually avoid. You’ve also challenged long-held beliefs. All of this takes energy, and your system needs time to recover.

Without intentional self-care, you might snap at loved ones, make impulsive decisions, or feel too overwhelmed to return to your next session.

The goal is not to eliminate the therapy hangover, but to move through it in ways that help you restore balance and integrate your insights.

Practical Self-Care After Therapy: What Actually Helps

Let’s be realistic. Most of us can’t clear our afternoon schedules or book a massage after every session. You might need to pick up kids, return to work, or manage other responsibilities. Self-care after therapy needs to fit your real-life schedule.

Five minutes: Step outside for fresh air. Take three slow, deep breaths. Splash cold water on your face. That counts as self-care.

Fifteen minutes: Take a brief walk. Write down whatever is swirling in your head—a quick brain dump on paper or in your phone. Make yourself a cup of tea and sit with it quietly.

Heading straight back to work: Listen to calming music on your commute. Keep a small comfort object at your desk. Focus on lighter tasks if possible.

Evening: Make something simple and nourishing for dinner. Move your body gently through stretching, walking, or dancing to a song. Go to bed early without guilt.

Even small self-care steps help. They don’t need to be elaborate. What matters is that they are intentional and support your post-therapy recovery.

When the Therapy Hangover Means Something More

Sometimes exhaustion after therapy signals the need for extra attention. If you struggle to function for days after a session, or if you experience flashbacks, panic attacks, or thoughts of self-harm, reach out for support immediately.

Normal post-therapy discomfort can feel challenging but is usually manageable. You are learning and growing even when it feels hard. If symptoms interfere with daily life or worsen over time, let your therapist know.

If you’re unsure what you’re experiencing, trust your instincts and check in with your therapist. Therapy should challenge you and help you grow, not leave you feeling unsafe.

Setting Yourself Up for Success

To support your therapy recovery, plan self-care into your routine instead of scrambling afterwards.

Before your session: Eat something nourishing and avoid scheduling important meetings immediately afterwards. If your session is virtual, set up your space so you can transition smoothly.

During your session: Let your therapist know if you feel overwhelmed. Ask for guidance on returning to the present if emotions feel intense.

After your session: Follow a simple routine that works for you. Check in honestly with yourself. What do you need right now? Sometimes it is rest. Sometimes gentle movement. Sometimes connection with someone you trust.

These small practices help your mind and body integrate what you’ve worked through and support your therapy recovery.

The Long View

From my own therapy and working with clients, I’ve learned that the therapy hangover improves over time. As you build coping skills and resilience, you recover more quickly. Sessions that once left you flat for days might eventually leave you just a bit tired.

That shift itself is evidence of healing.

You are not just surviving therapy. You are learning to sit with uncomfortable feelings, be vulnerable, and challenge old patterns. That is hard work, and it deserves the same respect and recovery time as physical labour.

The next time you leave a session feeling drained, remember: You are not broken. You are not doing it wrong. You are doing the brave, messy, necessary work of becoming more whole.

That work is worth every ounce of gentleness you can offer yourself.

Some Thoughts

Therapy isn’t about forcing change or pushing through. It’s about creating a space where meaningful work can unfold at a pace that allows for processing, integration, and recovery afterwards.

If you’re looking for therapy that respects both the work and what comes after it, you’re welcome to learn more about my practice and  book a free consultation to see whether working together feels like a good fit.

Every small step and act of self-care matters, even when progress feels slow or unseen.

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© 2025 Stefan Jurgens. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all content on this blog is the copyright of Stefan Jurgens.