What Happens At A First Adult Therapy Appointment?
Posted on: 26 May 2020
If you're struggling with mental illness or simply trying to cope with events in your life, therapy can help. Many people are initially resistant to the idea of counseling due to the stigma surrounding mental healthcare. If you've scheduled a therapy appointment, you should be proud of yourself because you've already taken the first step toward healing. It's not uncommon to feel some anxiety before your first adult therapy session because the unknown is usually a little scary. Demystifying the process can help. Here are four things that can happen at your first therapy appointment:
1. Your therapist will ask some basic questions about yourself.
Therapists are there to help you with your problems, but they can only do so effectively when they have all the relevant information. At your first appointment, your therapist will ask you basic questions. They'll ask why you decided to seek adult therapy, and you'll have the opportunity to talk about the problems you've been experiencing.
2. Your therapist will give you the opportunity to talk.
Therapy can be enormously helpful to anyone who needs help with managing their emotions or mental illness. However, therapy is not a quick fix. It is a process that takes time. You and your therapist will need to get to know one another in order to build the trust required for the therapeutic process. There is no right or wrong way to do therapy. Your therapist will ask you questions to encourage conversation, but feel free to bring up anything that's on your mind.
3. Your therapist will ask what you hope to get out of therapy.
Therapy is most effective when it's goal-oriented. In order to help you, your therapist needs to know what you hope to get out of therapy. Tell your therapist what you hope to achieve, whether that's a reduction in anxiety or a way to come to terms with a loss. Your therapist will help you achieve your goals or even help you come up with more realistic goals, if necessary.
4. Your therapist will suggest a counseling schedule.
Therapy is a highly individual process. Every adult's needs are different, which means people can benefit from different counseling schedules. Weekly sessions are the most common arrangement. A week is long enough to give you something to talk about when you next see your therapist. People with more severe problems can benefit from more frequent sessions. Your therapist will propose a schedule they believe is most beneficial to you. If you disagree, you'll have the opportunity to discuss it.
For more information on adult therapy, talk to a therapist like Dr. Susan Alexander.
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