|
|  |
Starting Off Counseling…
Forming a Partnership
The following information may give you an orientation about what to expect as
you begin individual counseling. At the end of this page, there are four
Suggested Steps to help you prepare for your first session.
Your first session gives you a chance to tell me about your problems.
I'll probably ask some questions such as when the problem started,
and what seems to make the problem worse or better. As you and I get the
background information, we will also be forming a partnership so that we
can work together to help you find some solutions.
My role is to create a relationship where you feel free to talk about whatever
is on your mind. An accurate diagnosis, in psychology as well as medicine,
is based on good communication.
After 1-4 sessions, we should have a fairly good understanding of the nature
and extent of your problems in living, as well as what might be causing these
problems. I will try to give you an objective opinion about what we might do
to help you start feeling better. During this period, we try to formulate goals
to help you move from where you are, to where you want to be. We will
periodically review your goals to make sure we are making progress.
Every counseling relationship is somewhat different. This is what keeps my work
interesting. In general, I can talk about my view of your role and my role.
Your role each session is to bring the material for us to work with. This can
be a dream, a negative feeling about yourself, a success, something that I asked
you to do between sessions, or a relationship problem. My role is to listen and
discuss your issues with you in a way that is therapeutic to you. I would be
most interested in hearing about your feelings about our respective roles, so
that this feels like a truly equal partnership.
You can anticipate ups and downs in counseling. This is the way one patient put
the process of emotional recovery: sometimes the only way to get over it, is to
go through it (your negative emotions). When the emotions spill over and flood
your experience, the relationship helps contain the emotion. Just like a cup
usually can hold what you want to drink, and it helps sometimes to have a saucer.
This is the protective part of the relationship, so you don't feel overwhelmed by the pain.
Suggested Steps
- Provide some background information for me by filling in the
Patient Intake Form.
Print off the form, which you will find under "patient forms".
- Read the Therapist-Patient Agreement Form.
I tried to write it in plain English, and let me know if there are any questions.
Print off this form and bring it to your session.
We will sign it after discussing what it means.
- If you have a managed care program, bring your insurance card so that I
can file a claim for payment.
- Some managed care programs require that you obtain an authorization for the counseling. Bring the authorization number with you to your session.
|
Starting Counseling