Navigating therapy: What to expect in the beginning stages

The first session can be anxiety-provoking especially if this is your first time meeting with a therapist. A lot of times just thinking about this session and the anticipation can stop those from going forward with therapy. There can be this overwhelming feeling of having to tell our whole story. Where do we start? How much do we share?

Instead try to think what is happening now that is leading you to be curious about therapy. What are barriers that you see in your life? What is interfering with you be able to live your life to your potential? There will be plenty of time in future sessions to dive deeper into your history and gain insight into how it is impacting you now.

In this first session you will discuss these barriers with your therapist and talk about some goals that you have— what you would like to get out of therapy? These can change as you progress but it is always great to have a starting point.

The frequency of the sessions will also be discussed in the first session. Starting with a new therapist it is recommended to have more frequent sessions in order to build and establish a therapeutic relationship. However, this is something that is always open for discussion to either lessen or increase the frequency depending on what is needed.

As for knowing if it is a right fit with the therapist… the most important thing is to feel safe and understood. If you do not feel safe to express how you are feeling it will be hard to make any progress in therapy. It is a collaborative relationship meaning that there is a mutual respect, open communication, shared decision-making, and joint commitment. These are the foundation to a healthy therapeutic relationship. If you have any questions please ask, if you have any suggestions or ideas, please share them! You are taking time out of your schedule to work on yourself and you know yourself the best!

Try to embody H.O.W. while in therapy as it will help you in the healing process.

Honesty- If you are not being honest with the therapist then you are impeding the therapeutic process. The therapist can only help you if are being open about what is happening. This can take some time to open up to the therapist that is why it is helpful to have more frequent sessions in the beginning to build the trust and rapport.

Openminded- This can be hard as we have been thinking/behaving a certain way for so long. However, maybe these thoughts and behaviors are not serving us and maybe it will free us if we have more flexible thinking. Not every suggestion is going to work. However, we want to at least try a different way to see what can help us.

Willingness- Therapy takes commitment but the payoff is way worth it! Therapy can just be an hour a week so the work really happens outside of the sessions. If you incorporate what is learned outside of the sessions you will see greater progress!

Try to remember your goals and why you took the big step to enter into therapy in the first place. The therapeutic process can be hard but incredibly rewarding!!

Cait Watson, LCSW
Watson Wellness LLC
Giving you the skills for wellness