When people think about joining a Psychologist Edmonton, they might feel anxious or nervous, thinking about what other people will say about them. However, these are quite common feelings while attending your first session. Remember that you are doing it to restore your mental well-being. In this blog, we will discuss the whole process of the best counselling in detail.
What is the misconception about counseling?
People think that psychotherapy is needed as they have some kind of mental weakness or flaws. However, it is not like that, as attending therapy sessions means achieving general growth. Whether you are struggling with relationship issues, finding it difficult to build new connections, or feeling insecure emotionally, you might need psychotherapy. So, booking and attending counseling sessions means focusing on overall growth.
Therefore, people must gain knowledge about the facts so that no one can mislead them.
What to Expect During Your First Therapy Session?
Every therapist utilizes different methods to treat people’s mental wellness. Since every professional has unique traits, you will still find something in common. So, whether you are looking for addiction counselling or anger Management therapy, a psychotherapy session is for you.
● Upon arrival
Once you reach the psychotherapist’s office, the receptionist will attend to you warmly and ask you to complete some formalities. You may have to document some details in the counseling consent form. These documents might include some private information that we keep confidential.
You will get the documents via mail before an online or telephonic counselling session so that you can fill them out in advance. It allows making your session according to your needs.
● During your session:
Once you complete the paperwork, you will meet the therapist to get to know each other properly. A therapist may ask the following questions such as,
●Are you doing good?
●What are you feeling?
●Why did you book your appointment with the therapist?
●What are your goals?
●What do you expect from the therapist during each session?
During a psychotherapy session, you can also ask questions, learn about the professionals’ treatment styles, and ensure whether it will bring you fruitful results.
Examples of some questions are;
●What type of therapy are you into?
Can you explain how you approach engaging with clients and in the sessions?
In what way will you make meaning out of the personal affairs I may bring to you? For example, whether they specialize in Depression Counselling or Anger Management therapy.
●After your session
You’ve done it! Just getting to that first counselling appointment is not easy. You need a lot of courage to even make that appointment.
Before you go, please permit me to say you deserve to go for therapy no matter the outcome. They may ask you to rate the session, like whether they are satisfied with it.
This is an ideal way to read your emotional state at the beginning of the counselling session and after the counselling meeting. Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
●What do I make of this session?
I was interested in how I felt before the session and after the session. What do I expect when I attend another session with that therapist? Was I relaxed when I was dealing with the therapist, or should I stick with a therapist more suitable for me?
When you can, put your thoughts on paper and think about them, if necessary, your therapist may have asked you to write or take a deep breath to help you let go of uncomfortable feelings. If possible, make time to do these are normally done.
Most clients go for only one counselling session because that can be sufficient to get you to start thinking differently.
Conclusion:
Accept that therapy is a very personal thing that simply doesn’t work for everyone, and that is completely acceptable because every person is different. You have a number of meetings with other therapists before you can get the right one. If you are comfortable opening up to them and have confidence in your therapist, then you probably got it right.
Finally, this is your healing and recovery process, which means that it is your unique experience. I suppose it has never been this way, and it will be your turn to drive this one. You can ask your family members and relatives for some tips and solutions on all the screw-ups life offers you.
However, you choose the path, option, and way to go. If you fail, that’s okay. I think you can always get back and try again. Essentially, it became important for me to understand that what matters is that you continue to struggle and that you continue to remind yourself that you are not the only one.