01/08/2021
Making the decision to go to therapy for the first time can be very anxiety provoking! The experience of therapy is deeply personal, and it is not something we often talk about with our friends and family. This leaves many people with NO IDEA of what therapy actually looks like. Here is a peek behind the curtain of an intake therapy session:
- First 15 minutes: Discussion of what brought you in today, how you have been feeling recently, and an overview of any current mental health symptoms
- Next 15 minutes: More detailed discussion of when you started noticing difficulties, including things that made them worse and things that made them better
- Next 15 minutes: Review of your medical history, including medications you take and any previous medical or mental health treatment you have received
- Next 10 minutes: Questions about your childhood, such as where you were born, who raised you, and how you would describe your upbringing
- Next 5 minutes: Safety assessment to review if you have any personal safety concerns and what steps we can take to make sure you can stay safe
- Last 20 minutes: Treatment planning, which includes both an overview of your IDEAL self (where do you want to be? How do we know therapy is done?) and immediate goals for the upcoming week.
**This is a general template of what I follow. Each patient is unique and each session looks a little different.
