The first session is called the assessment. Before you and I begin therapy, we must be sure:

• Is therapy is right for you?
• Is working with me and my style of therapy the right thing for you?
• Do we both think that our working relationship could be good enough to work in therapy together?
• Are there any mental issues that might make counselling difficult (or impossible) with me.

What Happens in Subsequent Counselling Sessions.

How it can help you.

You (and your partner if couples counselling) and I sit opposite each other, chairs at slightly an angle, and we have conversations. What we talk about is up to you, and what we discover during our conversations can be revealing, helpful, and life-transforming. Sometimes matters that are difficult to talk about with others can become easier to talk about with me. I don’t talk about our conversations with anyone else – so our therapeutic relationship becomes trustworthy.

An assessment allows the the individual to give an overview of their problems to the therapist, allows the therapist offers some helpful, information-gathering questions, and allows both the opportunity to discuss if they can work together to achieve the focus discovered in the assessment. 

During the assessment, the options of brief/time-limited counselling and open-ended counselling are considered and discussed by the therapist.

If the client and therapist agree not to proceed into therapy a referral may be made to another therapist.  Otherwise, counselling proceeds after the assessment.

Click for full details about assessments for individual counselling.

If the former, then counselling may be a helpful option for you. 

If the latter, then maybe counselling is not the solution for you.

Counselling is a form of therapeutic partnership, where you and a counsellor discuss matters that are effecting you.  Thinking of it as a form of consultation, both you and the counsellor conversationally attempt to understand the problems you face – a little like having a different perspective shared with you.  Sometimes the counsellor might help you look into your past for examples on where the current problems first started.  Sometimes the counsellor might help you look to the future to help you ponder about solutions that might help you.  Sometimes the counsellor may sit and metaphorically join you in the current problems just so that you don’t need to feel alone in them.

An aim is to bring understanding to you so that you can feel less burdened by the problems, and to support you in you making your own choices about what might help change things for you for the better.

Is counselling right for you?