What to expect from the first 6 sessions
Starting therapy for the first time, or meeting a new therapist can be daunting, especially for young people. I strive to provide a safe, warm and compassionate environment for my clients—an environment that allows them to be open and honest, free from judgement, pressure or stress.
The following article outlines what you can usually expect* from the first six therapy sessions, providing an insight into how I work.
First Appointment:
During the first appointment I will ask lots of questions to get to know you and to find out what has been going on for you. I will ask questions about why you (the young person) have come to see me and also ask lots of other questions about school/university, what you like doing outside of school/uni, your friends etc.
Your parents will also have the opportunity to tell me what they have observed.
Depending on time, I may ask your parents to leave the room, so that we can talk to each other alone.
At the end of the appointment I like to ask about your expectations, hopes and goals for therapy.
Of course you and your parents can always tell me if something is unclear or ask any questions that you may have.
Confidentiality is a very important topic that will be covered in the first session.
“The principle of confidentiality is about privacy and respecting someone’s wishes. It means that professionals shouldn’t share personal details about someone with others, unless that person has said they can or it’s absolutely necessary.”
Second / third appointment:
For the following appointment I will either invite you or your parents back, whatever is easiest for you as a family.
If the second appointment is for your parents/carers I will explore your developmental history. This means I will ask lots and lots of questions about when you were much younger. This will also give your parents the opportunity to tell me a little bit more if anything wasn’t covered in the first session.
If the second appointment is with you we will more or less continue as we did in the first session. I will ask more questions and you can always ask questions too. We will probably fill in some questionnaires together.
Fourth appointment:
In this appointment we will get to know each other more and I will ask you to tell me more about yourself. In this session we often end up creating something I call a “life line” together.
If there is some time left we will investigate some specific situations in which whatever is troubling you occurs most often.
Fifth appointment:
If we have made good use of the time in the previous appointments, by now we will have a pretty good idea of why your difficulties have occurred, why they are not going away and what we can do to help you get better as soon as possible.
Sixth Appointment:
This will be another appointment for parents/carers. This will be to get them up to speed with what we have found out so far and what we will be doing. Of course, I will be bound by confidentiality and can only tell your parents/carers whatever you allow me to tell them. The details of confidentiality will be discussed in the first session.
At the end of the six sessions, we can discuss whether you would like to continue, and talk through ways in which I can best support you as we move forwards. There is no pressure to undertake more sessions if you do not wish to; neither is there any rush to “finish” within a certain timeframe. Therapy is a highly individualised experience, and I pride myself on tailoring my approach to suit the needs of all my clients.
*Please note, this is no guarantee that the content and number of sessions will always represent the above outline. Variations are possible.
