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What should I say in my first therapy session?

What should I say in my first therapy session?

During the first session, your therapist may ask you:

  • What are your symptoms?
  • What brought you to therapy?
  • What do you feel is wrong in your life?
  • Some questions about your history, including your childhood, education, relationships (family, romantic, friends), your current living situation, and your career.

How do you structure a first therapy session?

During the First Session

  1. Greeting them warmly.
  2. Listening actively and asking questions.
  3. Facing them or turning toward them during the session to show your engagement.
  4. Letting them know that any nervousness or anxiety they feel about the first session is common.

What makes a therapy session successful?

For Exposure Therapy to be effective, clients have to be willing to do whatever it is that makes them anxious. And they have to do those things enough times so that their brains get used to the situations and decide they’re not dangerous. Only then will the anxiety stop.

How much should I charge for a therapy session?

Some therapists may charge as much as $200 or more per session, but most will charge $75-$150 a session. Many therapists work with a sliding scale fee schedule, which means their fee will depend on your income level.

Is it okay to cry in therapy?

Crying in the first session is normal. Starting therapy is scary, and emotional, and it can hit you like a ton of bricks.

How do you introduce yourself as a therapist?

Be sure to introduce yourself and provide a brief overview of who you are and what you do. Keep in mind that you are building a relationship with your client.

How do you prepare your first session with a client?

“Your most important goal should be to start to develop a nice therapeutic relationship with the client. This means you need to work on your anxious, automatic thoughts for many days before the first session… writing a coping card can help.

What do you do after a therapy session?

Coping Tools After Your Therapy Session Write about what is so difficult for you. It is also important to engage in self-care like mindfulness or yoga. Recreational activities can help you, as well, like going for a walk, taking a bath, reading a book, or other fun activities to help you feel good.

Is therapy worth the money?

In the case of using therapy as a tool to help process difficult life events, therapy is certainly worth it. This is because choosing to not go to therapy after suffering a loss or traumatic event could mean serious harm to your mental fitness. No one should have to suffer alone.

How much do private practice therapists make per hour?

Private Practice Therapist Salary

Annual Salary Hourly Wage
Top Earners $159,000 $76
75th Percentile $115,000 $55
Average $97,696 $47
25th Percentile $60,000 $29

What should I do in my first session with a therapist?

In the first session, you may want to start by explaining how the therapy process works. Therapy can vary somewhat by therapist, especially when the approaches differ. Even if the person you’re working with has seen a therapist in the past, you can still quickly go over your process.

Do you have to pay at the beginning of a therapy session?

Whether you plan to take payment at the beginning or end of a session, make sure your client is aware of your policy. In the first session, you may want to start by explaining how the therapy process works. Therapy can vary somewhat by therapist, especially when the approaches differ.

How to greet a therapist for the first time?

Greet them and normalize that it can be weird, awkward or anxiety-producing to meet a therapist for the first time (or meet a new one). Tell them what we are going to do during today’s meeting. The important points to hit are: I’m going to be asking some questions to know what’s been going on for the client

How to engage new clients in the first session?

Here are the major steps I do with some of the ‘scripts’ I find myself saying often. 1. Welcome/Orienting the client to the consultation session The consultation session is a little different than a regular therapy session, so I make a point to tell the client what we are going to do, and what he/she will walk away with from our meeting.