Your first session: what to expect

Sometimes people don’t know what to expect when they see a psychologist, so here is a quick guide to what usually happens in the first session.

The main thing you do in the first session is talk about why you’re there. What is bothering you? How long has it been happening? In what situations and contexts? Has it happened before? When did it start? Do you have any thoughts as to why it is happening? Have you tried anything to fix it before? How well did that work? And so on.

Depending how much time is taken up by other things, you would usually also answer some questions about your background, e.g. your family of origin and your medical history (I’ll give more detail on these in a later post).

There’s also paperwork, unfortunately! You read over a confidentiality protocol (detailing our procedures to keep your information confidential) and sign off on it. This is a legal requirement imposed on us; we have no choice about it. Sometimes there’s an informed consent form, which tells you about some things which can happen during therapy (e.g., you may experience upsetting feelings at some points), and asks you to consent to the process of therapy by signing off. Also, I will usually give people a short questionnaire covering common symptoms. Lastly, there’s a sheet with your contact details.