Is this the first time you’ve ever sought out therapy? No problem! Here is a little bit of information about the process. Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is more than discussing your problems or venting about what is not going well in your life. This tends to feel good in the short-term but does not help people make meaningful, long-term change. Psychotherapy is a treatment process that involves making changes in ways of feeling, thinking, or acting. You do not have to know right now what changes will be beneficial. We will work together to help you figure out what will help you get to where you want to be in life. Psychotherapy is time-limited and is often focused on learning new skills to help you better deal with emotions or thoughts in order to take different actions in your life. To a large degree, a successful treatment outcome depends on the amount of energy and effort you make. Just as if you were learning a new language or training for a marathon, improving your mental wellbeing requires practicing the changes we agree upon in your everyday life.

What to Expect

Our first session will be an assessment appointment. We will discuss what your current concerns are, any symptoms you are experiencing, and how these things are impacting your daily life. I will also ask you questions about your history so that I can understand the important pieces of your life that have shaped you as a person.

From this point we will work together to identify treatment goals, or the specific changes you would like to make during therapy. Then we will discuss the different approaches I can offer you to working on your problems. This process can take 2-3 sessions. During this time we will also be making sure that we can work well together in therapy.

Once we have completed your assessment, identified goals, and agreed upon a treatment approach we will get started on helping you make meaningful changes in your life.

A typical course of treatment ranges from 10-16 sessions, but some people take less and others take more depending on the types of problems for which they are seeking help.