“It’s my first”: what to expect during therapy.
I get it, it’s daunting telling your story to a stranger. It’s wondering “how much do I say in the first visit?” ‘How will they respond?” “Will I be stuck in therapy forever?!”
Truthfully, you’re not alone in this thought loop. Many first time clients I see have the same recurring thought pattern. In an effort to breakdown the walls, here is all you need to know about your first time.
Your Therapist is likely going to be doing a lot of ‘info gathering’:
A good therapist should never make you feel interrogated or that you need to share everything straight away. You’re in control of the speed in which you dive into the topics that brought you here, and sometimes those sticky bits are challenging to bring up straight away. A therapist should allow time to build some rapport, and make you feel it is a safe space.
Your info is in safe hands:
The therapist will remind you of confidentiality and your rights to viewing case notes made about you. All information that you share, by ethical conduct guidelines, is kept safe in the room and not disclosed to others unless you’ve provided consent. Rest assured, your privacy is always our top priority. Breaches to this may only occur when there is a safety risk and requires escalation (e.g. safety risk that requires medical attention).
3. Develop a mutual agreement of goals and expectations:
Your therapist and you should spend some time forming mutually agreed upon goals for therapy so that you can maximise your outcomes. Your therapist may also spend some time explaining that therapy is a collaborative process for it to be a success and explain some of the therapy techniques they may use to support your goals. Your therapist should always be checking in with you, you are the expert in yourself, so at any point if you are seeking clarity or don’t quite gel with the strategies, it’s your absolute right to say so. Your therapist genuinely values your feedback so that they can support you with meaningful outcomes.
Ready to take the next steps? Appointments available, let’s chat.
