What to Expect in Your First Therapy Session
It’s Normal to Feel Nervous Before Your First Therapy Session!
First sessions can feel intimating, especially if this is your first time coming to therapy. Know that it’s completely natural and normal to feel nervous or anxious before your first session. I expect most folks to have some nerves the first day, and I know that many of my clients might be coming into therapy with the goal of working on their anxiety. So I hope this blog post is helpful to prepare you for our first session together. I also encourage you to let me know if you’re feeling really nervous or anxious - I can validate those feelings and we can explore what some of the anxiety or fear might be around. Sometimes it can be helpful to “name it to tame it”.
Booking In for Your Therapy Session
Every therapist is different, but I ask that folks attend a free 20-minute online consultation before scheduling in their first session (or if I have one, before going on my wait-list). This consultation is great for a few reasons. For clients who are nervous or anxious, sometimes having a quick meet and greet online can feel a lot more approachable than coming straight into a 50-minute session without having ever met me. It also helps you feel out if I’m the right fit for you. On my end, I’m wanting to make sure that what you’re wanting to focus on is in my wheelhouse. If it’s not, I’ll be transparent with you and will offer to send over some names that might be a better fit.
Our consultation will be through the Jane App. 30 minutes before the appointment, you’ll get an email notification with a link to our meeting. I’ll let you into the meeting precisely when it starts.
During the first 10 minutes, I’ll ask about what’s bringing you into counselling and what you’re hoping to focus on. I’ll also ask if you’ve been to therapy before, and if you have, I’ll ask what that experience was like for you. During the second 10 minutes, I talk about what therapy with me looks like and chat about some logistical/administrative information (e.g. where my office is, what my fees are, and what my availability is). I’ll wrap us up with checking in if you have any questions.
And no icky sales tactics here - at the end of our consult, I’ll recommend that you let things percolate overnight. If you want to book in, you can do that through the Jane App or by emailing me at monica@beginagaintoday.ca. If I’m not the right fit, you can email me and ask for a referral, or move onto the next.
At the First Therapy Session
When you arrive to the building, you’ll head up the stairs and towards the seated waiting area outside of my office. I will come and greet you a few minutes before our session begins. For example, if our session begins at 4:00pm, I’ll typically pop out at 3:57pm. I’ll say hello and will offer you water, coffee, or tea. You’re also welcome to bring your own beverage into therapy.
Our first session begins with us reviewing the consent forms together, which is standard practice in counselling. This is to ensure you’re aware of important aspects to therapy, like certain limits to confidentiality and what happens if we bump up against them. We’ll also chat about potential benefits and risks to counselling, what to expect in sessions, session length and frequency of sessions, and my cancellation policy. As we review the consent forms, I’ll check in periodically to see if you have any questions. You’re also welcome to stop me if you have any questions or need clarification.
If you’re comfortable with everything in the consent forms, we’ll move forward and explore what’s bringing you into counselling. Maybe there was a recent crisis or impacts from a big event, or maybe things have become too heavy to navigate on your own. Perhaps you’re interested in personal development and growth, or maybe you’re just curious what this whole therapy thing is all about.
Typically in the first 2-3 sessions I will also fold in standard intake questions into our conversation. I will ask about things like your physical and mental health, substance use, education/occupation, family history, current family dynamics, and goals for therapy. I ask every one of my clients these questions because they can help us both understand the context of what’s happening around your concerns. Figuring out what puzzle pieces we’re working with helps me understand the big picture and how I might best support you. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to answer any questions you don’t want to - whether you just want to avoid the question, give partial answers, or let me know that you’re not comfortable sharing that information with me yet. You can share as much or as little as you’re comfortable with.
If it’s been an emotionally draining or heavy session, I’ll typically focus our last 5-10 minutes on helping you re-ground so that you’re not feeling so raw and/or exposed transitioning from therapy to the real world.
At the end of our session, I’ll check in and see if you want to book in any future sessions or if you prefer to book in through Jane App on your own time. I’ll also remind you that if I don’t feel like the right fit, I’m happy to make a referral to another clinician.
Feeling Ready to Get Started?
If you live in British Columbia and are looking for a counsellor, I invite you to book in for a free 20-minute consultation by clicking here. And if I’m not the right fit? I’m always more than happy to make a referral to my trusted network of clinicians.
I do my best to ensure my posts are accurate and to cite reputable sources, however if you notice something that needs a correction please reach out to me at monica@beginagaintoday.ca.
