Kaitlyn Bruneau (First Therapy Visit)
Kaitlyn is a psychotherapist specialising in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy who helps clients recognise and change unhelpful patterns while nurturing self-appreciation. In this sess...
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How can you prepare for your first therapy session and what should you remember?
In order to prepare for these conversations, it may help to take some time to think about what types of providers you feel most or least comfortable with and how you would like a therapist to help you with your current struggles. But again, it's okay if you don't know. This is where asking questions can come in handy. Most importantly though, is to remember that this is your treatment. It's important that you are able to advocate for yourself and your needs, and that you feel comfortable asking questions that you might have while meeting a new therapist could be a tad uncomfortable. It should still give you a sense of whether or not this is a professional relationship where you can begin to dive into some more also potentially uncomfortable topics together in a safe.
What should you expect during a consultation call?
First, we'll look a little bit at what to expect. This depends a bit on the context in which you're meeting this therapist. If it's just a brief consultation call, it might be focused more on information gathering and making sure that both of you feel like working together might be a good fit. This call might also focus more on asking and answering questions instead of a back and forth dialogue. A consultation is a great time to come in with any questions that you have or anything that you think is most important for your therapist to know. As a therapist, I can guarantee that you will not hurt our feelings if you do not think that working with us is the best fit for you. So ask any questions and share any information that would help you make the best decision for yourself. Later on. We'll also talk a little bit more about what types of questions you can ask.
What should you expect during an intake session?
Another context in which you might be meeting a therapist for the first time is during an intake session where you're talking more in depth about what brings you into therapy, what your goals are, and beginning to build rapport with one another. During this type of interaction, you could expect your therapist to be giving more direction with their questions in order to gather more information about your experiences and your goals. An intake appointment might also be a good time to ask questions or share more about what you would like to get out of therapy. The therapist might ask about what brought you into therapy, what you hope to accomplish, what your past experiences with mental health have been, what your relationships are like, what brings you joy, and for however, just because they're asking certain questions, that does not mean that you necessarily have to have an answer or even be ready to talk about those topics. First and foremost, try to be honest and let your therapist know if anything is making you feel uncomfortable. With my clients, I often share that honesty and direct communication is the most important aspect of our work together. I want to make sure that they're comfortable talking with me and letting me know how I can best help them. In turn, I will always take steps to be honest and direct with them.