What is Therapy?

What should I expect in therapy?

The first session is a getting to know you session. Your therapist will have looked over
your intake forms before the session and will have some follow up questions. It’s
important that your therapist gets a good picture of your current situation, some of your
past and what you are here for in order to partner with you effectively. It may take a few
sessions for your therapist to start to understand your situation and concerns
and to decide with you the best therapy approach.
This first session is also a good opportunity for you to interview your therapist and see if
his or her style and approach is going to work for you. Some questions to ask are:

What type of therapy will be used?
What is the average number and length of sessions?
What treatment goals will be worked on?

During your appointment is the best time to ask questions. I always encourage people
to write any questions down that they think of before the session, so they don’t forget to
ask. If you don’t feel like there is the possibility of a good connection with the therapist,
try someone else. Think of a therapist like a shoe, if the fit is not comfortable, find
another one.

What kind of results will I see?

This is sometimes a loaded question because a lot of this will depend on you.
When you approach your therapy as a partnership where you and your therapist
are both active participants and agree with the goals and the issues you want to
tackle it can be very effective. Almost always you already have the answers
inside of you. Sometimes we just need a little help accessing them
Be honest with your therapist.

In order to succeed and grow there needs to be a
willingness to share your feelings, experiences and thoughts. This is your safe
space. Be open to considering new ideas, new ways of looking at things. If you’re
worried about being judged by your therapist, have a conversation with him/her
about your concerns.
Stay with your treatment. When you are feeling blah, depressed, tired, etc your
brain may try to convince you to skip your session. This is not how you will get
better. In order for therapy to work you have to be willing to push past your lack
of motivation and put in the time and effort to grow. You are worth it!
Don’t expect magic instant results, With the ART therapy sometimes there are
very fast results but talk therapy does not work like that. Working on emotional
issues and habituated ways of seeing and doing things takes time to change and
requires some work. You may need several sessions before you start to feel
better.
Do your homework between sessions. You and your therapist will discuss work
between sessions and agree on what that is. It is crucial that you hold up your
end of the agreement as just doing work only in therapy sessions is not enough
to change your brain and emotional habits. For you to grow and change you have
to be able to apply what you have learned to your real life. If your therapist asks
you to document your thoughts in a journal or do other activities outside of your
therapy sessions, follow through.
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