The first session is generally about getting to know each other and finding out how we might work together. Below is an overview of what this entails.
Arriving and starting the session: Online
Once the session has been arranged, you will receive a link to join the session online via Google Meet. This is your personal session link, and you will use the same link each time. When you click the link to join, you will wait to be admitted to the session at the start time. Note: If we’re working online, you can choose not to have your camera on, if that feels more comfortable.
Arriving and starting the session: In person
Once the session has been arranged, you will details of how to get to the location (in Stirchley or Moseley), including information about parking, public transport, how to enter the building, and where you can wait if you arrive early.
Contract/Working Agreement
The first session involves a bit of admin. You will have received a contract/working agreement to read and sign, which sets out practical and ethical details of how we will work together (timings, payment, cancellations, confidentiality, contact arrangements, et cetera). We will briefly review this and there will be a chance for you to ask any questions and clarify anything you’re unsure about.
Finding out about you
I will ask about you. For example, your history, current symptoms and factors impacting you, your family and living situations, and what support, if any, you have around you. You do not need to share everything at once; the session will move at your own pace, and you can always share more in subsequent sessions if you need or would like to.
Your hopes, goals, and how we can work together
We will discuss what has brought you to therapy and what you hope to achieve from it. We can also explore anything that might be helpful for you in therapy. For example, taking sensory breaks, having more structured sessions so that you know how they might unfold*, finding ways of working with emotions if this is challenging for you, or exploring a balance between flexibility and consistency in scheduling of sessions.
*It is not often easy to predict how a session will go, due to the nature of the fact that it is exploratory and relational (like a conversation between two people), but it can help some people to have an overall structure in mind, and this is something we can discuss. For example, this session structure could look like:
- Check-in
- Review (in subsequent sessions)
- Core activity/exploration
- Session summary and review
- Closing the session
Finding out if we’re a good fit
Although we may have had an initial 15-minute chat, the first session is an opportunity for you to see if you feel comfortable working together, having had a full session. You don’t have to decide at the time and can take time to think about it.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch!