What to expect from your first therapy session?
If you’ve not had therapy before, it can be hard to imagine what a therapy session actually looks like, and for some people, this fear of the unknown can be enough to put them off accessing therapy at all.
I often recommend a free 15-minute chat before we agree to have a therapy session. I understand 15 minutes is nowhere near long enough to fully discuss your difficulties. But it does give us an initial idea of whether we feel we could work together. If during this call we decide to continue working together then we will book an appointment at a time that suits us both. Ideally, this would happen within 7 days and where possible, I like to stick to the same day and time each week, which makes it easier for us both to plan our lives around it.
During our first session we will talk about what has brought you to therapy, whether that is one main difficulty or a number of different things going on in your life. I will be interested to hear how these difficulties impact you on a daily basis and some of the symptoms you struggle with. We will cover your previous mental health history as well as discuss any previous therapy you have had (including what you liked and didn’t like about it). Perhaps most importantly, I want to hear what you are hoping to gain from attending therapy, because I firmly believe that there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach, so by understanding this it will enable me to tailor a treatment plan to specifically meet your needs.
I strongly believe that one of the most important elements of therapy is the therapeutic relationship. Therefore, I will do my best to make you feel at ease from the moment we start talking, I almost want you to feel like you are talking to a friend!
At the end of our first session, I can talk to you in a bit more detail about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and my recommendations for our future sessions together.
It might be helpful for you to come to the first session with some notes, maybe some bullet points or a timeline of events. Some people find the first session quite anxiety provoking, so having a list helps you to make sure you don’t forget anything important. And bringing a notebook for each subsequent session is a good idea to help with remembering anything important that is discussed within each session.
If you’re interested to know more you can send me a message here or find me on Facebook or Instagram.
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