The Counseling Process

For anyone who has been to therapy before, this blog may not be new to you. But, for those of you who are brand new to this process, here is some information to help you prep for that very first therapy session.

The first thing to know about therapy is that your therapist needs, yes NEEDS, to know who you are. Not just why you are coming to therapy, but what was your family life like, do you have kids, are you married, do you have hobbies and interests outside of work, etc. Knowing who the client is helps the therapist be creative in some or all aspects of utilizing tools and interventions.

Therefore, the first session is centered around what we call an initial assessment. In this assessment, which is basically a question and answer session, the therapist is going to ask a lot of question about you and your life. The therapist will also go over the importance of keeping your appointments, communicating when you need to cancel or change your session time, payment forms and fees, informed consent, confidentiality, and more. This is also a great time to ask any questions you may have for the therapist or about counseling in general.

After this initial session/assessment, therapy takes on a unique path. Depending on the issue that the client is bringing to therapy, the therapist may need more information. Aside from that, know that everyone’s therapeutic journey is different because each client is unique and different. For example, a client with anxiety may work through coping skills first and then “attack” the root cause, whereas someone wanting to be in a good relationship, who is single, might start examining their model of relationships in childhood.

As counseling progresses, the therapist will check in to ask you, the client, how you feel you have progressed in counseling. Be honest and open. If you feel you haven’t made the kind of progress you were hoping to see and you do not tell the therapist, then the therapist has no opportunity to try something new that might help you more.

When a client and/or therapist feels that goals have been reached and there is no longer a need for therapy, a termination session occurs. I know “termination” sounds cold, but it is literally saying the end of the counseling process has been reached. The therapist will talk about counseling ending a few weeks before the last session. This gives the client the chance to examine how far he or she has come to reaching their counseling goals, as well as prepare for no longer attending therapy. Ending therapy can be difficult for some clients and this termination process allows them the time to adapt to the idea of no longer talking to that therapist once a week.

Hopefully this has given you a general overview of what the counseling process looks like. I wish you the best in starting your journey through the counseling process and hope you reach your goals successfully!