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Beginning Therapy
1st Session - The Intake
An intake is not a therapy session; rather the purpose of this appointment is to review mental health guidelines and to gather bio-social and psychological information in order to better assess your presenting concern through a diagnostic lens. Diagnosis can be an intimidating word. However, a skilled therapist knows diagnosis only provides a clinical understanding of a person, so this is only the first step in developing a therapy tailored for holistic wellness. Feeling uncomfortable sharing details about your life with a stranger is also normal, so knowing a little about what to expect can help. We will discuss confidentiality, your background and current circumstances, contextual variables (like culture, etc.), review symptoms, as well as why therapy and why now?
2nd Session - Comprehensive Evaluation
Here we will review your mental health assessment and treatment plan. Ideally, by the end of this meeting, we will come up with realistic expectations for our work together—the goals you would like to achieve, course of action to achieving these goals, and the projected duration for therapy. It is important to know that therapy is not always pleasant. Establishing trust takes vulnerability; moreover, it is natural to want to stop things that open-up emotional pain and doubt. Our job is to sit in this process with you—to meet you where you are, and help you get over your current difficulties by discovering tools and developing insights that better re-align with your strengths and purpose in life.
3rd Session & On - The Therapy
By the third session there may still be some housekeeping from things leftover from the intake, but typically this is where therapy begins to delve into your presenting concern in the landscape of your life, rather than broken down into the resulting effects. The therapist does not have subjective knowledge of your experience beyond what you share; just as you do not have objective knowledge beyond what is shared with you. Respecting the difference of these two points-of-view is where issues start to take shape in the round, resulting in a process of heightened self-awareness that continues throughout the course of therapy until a better understanding of how to work through your concerns arises.
The aim of therapy is not to change or fix you, rather it is for you to experience a more clear picture of who you are once the distortions of fear, control, or lack thereof have been addressed.