PERSONAL HEALTH : Recording Therapy for Tape Replay

Therapy can be an expensive, time-consuming proposition, even with short-term techniques and an excellent counselor.

How to maximize the benefits? Tape record your therapy sessions for later replay, some therapists advise.

“I suggested this approach initially to couples,” says UCLA psychiatrist Mark Goulston, who estimates that 60% of his clients now tape sessions. “I had couples listen separately to the tape--or together if they promised to be quiet. When people listen to themselves on tape, it doesn’t lie.” One man who listened to his marriage therapy session described himself as a Neanderthal who grunted in response to his wife’s conversation.

Another client heard himself dismissing an issue as “no big deal” and realizing it really was.

“Therapy sessions are intense and there is lots of material discussed,” says a 48-year-old attorney who has taped a dozen of his sessions. “Sometimes you get hung up on one idea and you might miss a few words after that. The tape allows you to ‘revisit’ material you missed.”

Listening to taped sessions can also provide proof of progress. “Sometimes I think I haven’t made any improvement at all,” says the attorney. “Then I relisten and notice that my voice, for instance, sounds less depressed than before.”