Reaching out and initiating therapy is often a stressful process; it requires most of us to step outside of our comfort zone. To make it a bit less anxiety provoking by knowing what to expect, you can familiarize yourself with the steps of the process I use in my practice:
If you are interested to look into the possibility of working together, contact me via e-mail or phone (where you can leave a voice message). Provide your name and contact information, a brief message about the purpose of your call, and the best ways and times to contact you.
I will then contact you to coordinate a short (about 10-minute) phone conversation. In this short phone call I will answer any questions you have, and gather some general information about your needs. If at the end of this short conversation you are interested to move forward with possibly working together, we will schedule an intake session. For that, I will ask for your e-mail address to connect you with the client portal.
Following our phone conversation, you will receive an email, inviting you to log-in to the client portal. There, you will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire and some forms prior to our intake session. You will also see our scheduled session.
On our first meeting, we will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of your needs, and assess whether working together seems like a good fit. This typically takes 1-3 sessions. By the end of this evaluation, I will share my impressions, and my thoughts about whether we should work together and what our work may involve. You will be invited to ask any questions you may have, and to share your impressions and thoughts. You will then decide if you want to go ahead and start therapy.
Therapy sessions are typically held weekly and are 55 minutes long, unless other arrangements are made. Sessions may look different for different people, and may change over time, depending on your needs and style. Generally, sessions will provide a space for you to become increasingly aware of your emotional experience, and your mental and behavioral patterns, as well as for specific and individualized interventions.
While this process can be profoundly rewarding and freeing, it also inherently involves facing some uncomfortable moments and feelings at times, and therefore requires your commitment and willingness to consistently show up; this is all that is required of you. Once you show up, we can take it from there, no matter what thoughts and feelings you show up with. Ambivalence and difficulties are very natural to this process and are always welcome to be shared and discussed openly. My hope is to provide the clients with a safe space, where all the different parts of their experience can be seen and understood, allowing them to come out the other side more aware, skilled, content and resilient.
The duration of a therapy relationship (number of sessions) is highly variable and depends on the client's goals, readiness for change, participation, needs, and life circumstances. It is very hard to predict, but people can generally expect therapy to continue for at least 12 sessions before they see a lasting change. Having said that, people also often notice some significant impact much earlier. And, another truth is that many people find it useful to continue their therapy for years. There is no one right answer, there is only what is right for each of us at a certain moment in time, and my goal is to be there with the client as we explore what is right for them.