In preparation for your first therapy session, you may find yourself asking, what questions will my therapist ask me? Is this something I need to prepare for? What if I am asked a questions I don’t know the answer to? And the dread about attending the session sets in…
This post will cover some of the questions that are asked in an initial therapy session to help ease anxiety about attending therapy. Remember that you are in control of the pace of the sessions. If topics are brought up that don’t feel comfortable to discuss yet, feel free to say so. Things can always be revisited at a later date.
Initially, a therapist will ask questions to gather information and get to know you. Your therapist is trying to build a picture of you and your life outside of therapy for themselves to be able to provide a context to the stories and life events that you will be sharing with them on a regular basis in the future. In order to do this, a therapist might ask specific questions about your living situation, your friends, your family and how do you spend your time during the day.
In addition to getting to know you and what your life looks like, your therapist will also ask questions about your past experiences with therapy. What brings you to therapy today? Have ever been in therapy before? What was that experience like for you? What did you like about your past therapy experiences and what did you not like? These questions are important because this is your time and this therapy is for you. These simple questions can help therapy be a more positive and meaningful process for you.
And of course, a therapist will ask about the symptoms you are experiencing. They may ask, When did you first notice symptoms of anxiety (or depression, or whatever you are experiencing) How does it impact your day to day life? How does it impact your relationships?
There are no wrong answers during your initial therapy session. The goal is to ask questions that will help to gain an understanding of who you are as a person; to lay the groundwork for a meaningful client-therapist relationship in the future; and to ask questions that will help you tell your story at a pace that works for you.
Cedar Tree Therapy specializes in high quality, long term therapy. Most client can expect to have weekly therapy sessions for approximately 6 months to 1 year. We look forward to getting to know you and feel it is an enormous privilege to get to support you in your therapy journey.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dana Etherington OT Reg. (Ont.), Psychotherapist is the owner of Cedar Tree Therapy, a psychotherapy practice for young adults that is located in Brooklin, Ontario.