Setting up an appointment:
You will initiate contact with the therapist by either calling, emailing, or filling out an online form.
Often, the therapist will want to talk with you over the phone to get some basic information. They will ask you questions about what you are looking for (areas of expertise), tell you about their logistics (location, pricing, insurance, and hours of availability), answer any questions that you have, and schedule an appointment.
When you talk with a therapist you can ask any question you have - believe me, we’ve been asked lots of things! You can ask about their age, years of practicing, training, approach and techniques of therapy, marital status, parenting style, experiences with specific areas of expertise, etc.
As a therapist, I know that every interaction I have with a client informs the therapeutic relationship. Therefore, I will be thoughtful in my emails, phone calls, and in-person interactions at all times, and you should look for a therapist who does the same.
The first appointment:
You will complete their paperwork that will likely include an Informed Consent (stating what their treatment scope covers, that there are risks with psychotherapy and you are aware of the risks, and confidentiality bounds), a Privacy Policy with HIPAA requirements, Personal Policy details, and a Payment Agreement.
Sometimes clinicians have an intake form or assessment that their clients complete before or during the first session. This is so the clinician can understand your background, prior treatment, and goals.
Often the first session focuses on:
What brings you to therapy, and why now: what are the specific issues that you are facing and want to see change in
History: what is your story, what relevant information is necessary to understand the issues
Goals: what changes do you want to see, how will you know they have met those goals
Past therapy experience
Future therapy sessions:
Sometimes clients ask how long therapy will take. Clinicians can make guesses based on similar clients, but cannot make guarantees. Sometimes therapy occurs for 3-9 months, sometimes therapy is on-going for years. Some clients come every week, others come less frequently. If there are deep or long-term issues that the client is working through, then therapy often occurs for more than 1 year. The duration is determined by both the therapist and client, working in collaboration. Clients can almost always return to a therapist if needed.
My personal philosophy is that I want to work myself out of job by helping clients gain new tools and new methods of making connections or asking questions so that they feel confident and empowered to handle current and new challenges.
Even so, sometimes we face large, complex, deep, or on-going challenges, and in this case, maintaining an on-going relationship with a therapist with help you, since tools and methods have limits. With these clients, we work together for many years.
Who is the client?
Therapy can be in three configurations: individuals, couples, or families. Therapists often consider “the client” as the configuration, which means that if 2 or more individuals are present, then the needs of the whole are the clinician’s focus. “The client” is the whole family or the couple.
With children, they are raised with others so while the family may say that one child is the “identified patient," the therapist may conceive of the entire family as the client and work with multiple family members.
Ending therapy
When a client decides to conclude therapy, ideally there is a conversation between the client and therapist, and they spend time reviewing the work completed in client sessions, such as, new tools and skills gained, possible signals in the future that alert a client that they may want to return to therapy, and how the client feels changed by the experience.
These conversations are ways for the client and therapist to bless one another in their goings.
