What to expect in your first therapy session
There may be lots of questions in your mind regarding your first therapy session:
What happens in a therapy session?
Will my therapist diagnose me?
What topics should I talk about in therapy?
What should I look for in my therapist’s approach?
How do I prepare for my first therapy session?
In this post, I’ll cover what you can expect to happen in your first therapy session. I’ll also highlight what I believe are the most important things to consider when you’re in your first session with a therapist.
1. Intake Information
Just like going to see a new doctor, your therapist will have intake information for you to review and sign before you meet. When you do meet, your therapist will go over some aspects of those forms, such as privacy and confidentiality laws. The first session is typically devoted to going over your biological, psychological, and social history and presenting concerns together.
Right from the start, you should be able to get a sense that your therapist is asking thorough and culturally competent questions. If at any point you wonder, why is my therapist asking me that? Feel free to ask your therapist why! Every question has a purpose, and they’ll be happy to provide context.
2. Determining Therapeutic Goals and How You’ll Achieve Them
Both you and your therapist will want to have a shared, clear understanding of why you’re seeking therapy right now and how your therapist can support you in getting to where you want to be.
By the end of the first session, my clients and I should both be able to answer these questions:
Why are you in therapy, and where do you want to be?
What methods, materials, and modalities will I be using to help get you there?
How is progress measured?
I consider this the most important part of an initial therapy session.
Why?
Having a solid understanding of why someone wants to begin therapy, why this therapist is uniquely capable of helping this person achieve their goals, how they will do that, and what that will look like, provides the foundation for the work ahead.
Without that, there’s ambiguity for both sides. Being able to answer these questions is just as important as feeling a connection to your therapist.
3. Determining fit
Your therapist should only treat you if you fall within their scope of practice. What’s within a therapist’s scope relates to their training and expertise with certain areas. A therapist may suggest a referral when they feel that there’s another therapist whose expertise more fully aligns with a client’s historical and/or current reason for seeking therapy.
Like doctors who have specialties and sub-specialties, a skilled therapist will have one to a few areas of specialization that they treat rather than say they treat everything and anything. Having a limited scope ensures that clients are receiving the highest possible quality of care and that therapists are utilizing best practices.
4. How sessions will look
This relates a bit to #2, but I like to include this as its own point, mostly because I’m an art therapist and my sessions vary in how they look, as I work with different ages and presenting concerns. For example, a session will look and feel different for a child with trauma than it will for an adult who is building assertiveness skills to use at work. I’ll approach my sessions differently based on my clients’ needs and goals.
A lot of people have never tried art therapy before, too, so going over what it does (and doesn’t) look like in a session can feel helpful and decrease any anxiety. When you first meet a therapist, they should share what their sessions look like based on the methods and modalities they will use to help you reach your goals.
5. Space for Questions & Concerns
Your therapist should invite you to ask any questions you have at some point during your first meeting. While in therapy, your therapist should also create time to check in with how you feel about your progress and how you’re feeling. Offering honest feedback and verbalizing what you want more or less over time can strengthen the therapeutic relationship and ensure that you’re co-creating your experience.
If you’re beginning therapy, I hope this post was helpful. If you’re interested in working together, I provide art therapy in Montclair, NJ, and work with children, teens, and adults with anxiety.
