What happens in a first session
Nobody will ask you to lie on a couch. A plain account of the first fifty minutes, so there are no surprises.
4 min read
The hardest part of therapy, for most people, is the week before it starts. So here is what the first session is actually like.
Before you arrive
You will have had a free fifteen-minute call with our intake coordinator and filled in a short form. Your clinician will have read it, which means you will not have to start from zero.
In the room
Your clinician will explain confidentiality and its few limits, then ask what brought you in now rather than six months ago. You can answer in order, out of order or not at all. Silence is fine. Crying is fine. Not crying is also fine.
Afterwards
Towards the end you will talk about whether the fit feels right and what a sensible rhythm would be. You may feel lighter, or tired, or slightly exposed. All three are normal, and it helps to keep the hour afterwards free.
If it does not feel like the right match, tell us. Changing clinician is ordinary here, and nobody will be offended.
A note on this writing
The journal is general information, not medical advice. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 in the US, or go to your nearest emergency room.
Keep reading
More from the journal.
New pieces every few weeks, written by the people you would meet in the room.
Anxiety
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Why everything feels unsolvable in the small hours, and a kinder plan than lying there arguing with yourself.
Grief
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The five stages were never meant to be a staircase. A truer picture of what mourning is actually like.
Relationships
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Same fight, different day
Why couples have one argument in a hundred costumes, and how to step out of it mid-sentence.