You’ve picked up that phone and made the appointment and now are likely wondering what to expect from therapy in general, and especially your first appointment.
I will greet you in the waiting room , offer you tea from the tea bar, and show you into my office. After welcoming you, I will ask you to sign a treatment contract and HIPPA form. The treatment contract covers how to reach me, cancellation policy, confidentiality and fees. We will discuss whether or not, you’d like me to talk to anyone else, such as a previous provider, physician, etc and if so, I will have you sign a consent for me to contact them. After we have the “business” out of the way, we will spend the rest of the hour discussing what brings you to therapy, your childhood history, support systems, coping strategies and your hopes and goals for therapy. My goal for the first few sessions is to help you feel comfortable with me, for us to get to know one another and to determine if this feels like a good fit, and if so, to develop a plan for our work together. I always start with wanting to really understand how you are currently dealing with your emotions, thoughts and issues that cause you distress. I’ll ask a lot about this and current supports. We will likely start our work with building on increasing the coping strategies you are currently using before we begin to tackle some of the bigger issues. At the same time, I am very cognizant that we are building a relationship and this is at the cornerstone of therapy and our work together. It is the development of our therapeutic alliance that make it safe enough to begin to explore and identify patterns and themes that emerge. Based on this, I will tell you a bit about myself and how I work and give you time to ask questions.
Some of my clients come in with topics that they would like to address and/or a desire to talk about something that has come up for them during the week. I also have clients who come in and are unsure how to use their time. All of this is perfectly fine. I start where you are. Regardless of where we start, some of the things you should expect from me and our work together are:
1. Safety and respect: I will treat you in a respectful way by listening for your boundaries and what you need to feel safe in my office and with me. I will be direct with you so that you know what to expect from me.
2. Empathy, curiosity and support: I am an active participant in your therapy. I will meet you with compassion, curiosity, warmth and humor.
3. Guidance towards self-discovery: Together we will explore patterns that you may or may not be aware of in terms of your response to situations and others; we will begin to look at your experiences in terms of feelings, thoughts, sensations and how these are related; your beliefs about self, others and the world and how you learned this.
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