Although therapy looks a little different for everyone, a few things stay the same when it comes to how I provide it. Overall, I approach each client with humility, humor and transparency so that you feel that this is a helpful and supportive piece of your mental health journey. More specifically, each session usually follows a structure so that it is easier to make use of our time together.
Our first session will involve filling out paperwork, going over policies and procedures, discussing your relevant mental health history and coming up with a plan for how we will address your mental health needs together. As treatment progresses, I may ask you for feedback on this plan, especially if we have achieved one of your goals or your needs have changed.
In the sessions that follow, there will be a few common components. One will be the check-in, where we explore progress since the last session and any new struggles that might have come up. Second, we will spend some time exploring issues relevant to your mental health, reviewing skills that we have covered in the past and/or practicing new skills (again this is related to the overall plan that we create in the beginning). Finally, there is usually a homework assignment of some sort. Homework assignments are targeted to make efficient use of the time between when we see each other and are an expected part of the process, but vary in difficulty and based on the needs each week.
If you have questions about what I just described, I would be happy to answer them when we meet.