What To Expect

For many, coming to see a counselor — whether for the first time or not — can evoke a lot of anxiety. One reason I commonly hear for people having anxiety before this first meeting is not knowing what to expect. They sometimes wonder if the counselor will sit there silently, analyzing every word and gesture. Or they wonder if they’re supposed to jump right in and tell their whole life story. Or their anxiety has more to do with what the counselor will be like. Will he be judgmental? Will he be overwhelmed with my problems?

Let me put you more at ease by giving you a heads up about what to expect.

Consultation: This is simply an informal time to meet and see if we’d be good to work together — and it’s free. Some factors that influence this are pretty practical: Do I have experience with what you’re wanting help with? If not, I am happy to help you find someone who does. Do you feel comfortable with me? This is one of the most important things to decide on early on in counseling. Simply, do you like your counselor? Does he or she make it easy to open up? Do you feel safe around them? If you don’t, by all means, go to someone else. A consultation is also a time to ask any questions you have, whether about finances, insurance, scheduling, or questions about how counseling works, what to expect, how long does it take, those sorts of things.

First Session: This is the first “official” counseling/therapy session. Before you even come in, I will have looked over your intake questionnaire. This gives me general, but valuable information about who you are and why you’re coming in. As for my goals during the first meeting, they can be boiled down to these: To really understand who you are as a person, what brings you into counseling at this time, where you see yourself at when you’ve reached your goals, and how you want to go forward. To accomplish this, I will ask you questions and invite you to share openly what you’re struggling with and together we will work out a plan for how you can move forward.