What to Expect Prior to Therapy

So, you’re thinking about therapy but not sure if Broken Gold Counseling is the right fit for you.  20-minute consultations are offered free to anyone who wants to discuss therapy and their needs.  This is a casual meeting, usually via phone or Zoom, where you have a chance to meet me and ask questions about my experience and approach. It is also a time for me to ask some questions that might make it easier for me to determine if I am the right therapist for you.

Things that can help you make the most out of your 20-minute consultation:

  • Come prepared with any questions that you would like to ask. Questions are welcome and appreciated. The things you ask also help me to better get a sense what might be important you as part of the therapy process.

  • Provide general information about the things that you would like to work on. At this stage, you don’t need to divulge all the details about the problems you are facing.

  • If you have had prior therapy, please let me know what you found helpful or not helpful about that experience.

  • Expect me to explain my style, expectations of clients, and the approach that I might use to work with your specific goals.

What to Expect After You’ve Booked Your First Session

Prior to the first session, all clients will be expected to complete new client forms.  These include an intake, services agreement, a reflective questionnaire to help you formulate your goals for therapy, and a subjective measure that asks you to rate the level of functioning in different areas of your life.  A $50 deposit is required at the time of booking.

It is important to remember that no booking is confirmed until your completed paperwork and deposit are returned, and you receive your email confirmation. 

What to Expect During Your First Session

Individual Counseling – Our first session will be an intake session, in which we will discuss the details of the challenges that bring you to therapy and your goals for our time together.  Intake sessions are usually 60 minutes.  I will leave you with something to work (or “homework”) on prior to the end of this session.

Couple Counseling – Our first session will be 90 minutes and I will meet you together as a couple.  We will talk about guidelines for therapy, the structure of the Gottman Method, and I will get to know you and the history of your relationship by conducting an oral history interview.  This will be our first of three assessment sessions, before we start the actual work of therapy interventions.

ART Session – We will dive into working on your trauma through the structured ART protocol designed to help you erase and replace traumatic images and process out body sensations.  Unlike talk therapy, we will not spend much time talking about your trauma.  Depending on the extent of the timeline of your trauma, this may be your first and only session or the first of a series of sessions. 

What Will a Typical Session Look Like?

Typically, a talk-therapy session structure will allow time for both processing and talking about the issues that you are working, or that have come up since your previous session, and also include time for the teaching of new skills to help you progress through your goals.  Homework is assigned at every session, and it is an expectation that between sessions you will be practicing the skills that are taught in session.  It is behavioral change learned through skills and more effective coping techniques that will help you make the most progress towards your goals.

How Will I Know That I Am Ready for Discharge?

Termination of therapy is always determined by you.  However, a good indication that clients are ready for discharge is significant progress in the goals they bring to therapy, and a general sense of more effective coping than when the started therapy.  Ideally, termination of therapy is a collaborative process between therapist and client and is always discussed and planned for early on in treatment.