What to Expect When Starting Therapy
Samantha Rintoul
Starting therapy for the first time, or trying out a new therapist can be an intimidating experience. Even working in the field, I will admit to feeling anxious before my first appointment with my own therapist. So, while it is absolutely common to feel this way, it is our hope that by letting you know what to expect when working with a therapist at Viewpoint, we can make your first experience with us a bit more comfortable. Wondering who is the best fit for you? Our lovely Client Care Team can suggest a therapist based on their knowledge of staff’s specialties or we are happy to offer a consultation so you can get to know the therapist you feel is right for you..
At the start of our first session, we will go over the informed consent documents. You have probably done this before with other health professionals, but you may find we spend a little longer on it. This is because we want you to understand and feel confident in your rights as a client. Therapy is for your benefit – so we want to make sure you are empowered from the very beginning. You always have a right to ask questions, if you want to understand why we are working a certain way, or say no if something doesn’t feel like a fit.
From there, your therapist will get to know you and work to understand your unique concerns. Each therapist has different areas of specialty, and a slightly different approach, but all our therapists work from an evidence based lens – meaning that the way your therapist works with you has research showing that they are helpful for your problems. In our first couple sessions, we will work on getting to know what these concerns are so we can choose the most effective way of helping you and begin to provide some relief for your symptoms as soon as possible, while also maintaining those improvements long term.
So, how do we make those changes last? This part requires effort from both the therapist and the client.
As your therapist we will make sure we are informed on the most effective ways to work with your concerns and we will come prepared with tools and resources (and a backup plan) for each session. We will regularly check in with you to make sure we understand what you want to get out of therapy, and we will assess whether the work we are doing is helpful and consistent with reaching these goals. We will meet you where you are at with warmth but will also challenge you and hold you accountable.
Lasting change occurs when we practice new skills and behaviours outside of therapy. As such, we will likely ask you to complete homework between sessions. This “homework” is specifically tailored to your goals – it can be as simple as noting down a word or two once a day, or it may be more complex such as trying a new behaviour and reflecting on it. We ask you to engage with these tasks to find out what actually works in your real life outside of therapy and to identify areas where further support might be needed. Plus, the more you practice a new skill the easier it becomes to apply.
Rather than only working to reduce the symptoms of your distress, we will work to remove the roots that cause them to persist or re-occur this means we could be working together for six months or longer. We will work with you to find a schedule that works for your goals, life, and financial situation. When we first start working together we may schedule sessions more often to work on improving your quality of life. When you start to see change and are coping well, we may gradually space out your sessions before ending our work together. Our eventual goal is for therapy to end. However we also want you to know that we are here for you to come back to in the future when you face new challenges or if you want to reinforce the change that you have already made.
We want to make sure you feel informed and empowered when working with us and that starts with reaching out. If you have any questions about the therapy process, how we work, or if you are ready to book your first session with us please reach out today.