It’s your first counselling session; you might be nervous, you might be excited, and it’s ok to be apprehensive. It’s completely normal. I know I was a little when I first went to counselling!
If you are coming to my office, you’ll be able to find the address on my website or via Google Maps. There is free and easy parking in the dirt driveway if you arrive by car (above the Port de Rives). Or you can walk from the city centre in around 10 minutes, and if you are still struggling with finding me, you can give me a call, and I can help direct you. If you are meeting me online, I will send you a Zoom meeting link that is secure, and we then begin our session. If we drop out due to poor internet, we can back the session up with a phone call.
My space is welcoming and cosy with a sofa to sit on, or you can take advantage of Walk and Talk therapy outside. We play music in the waiting area and have water and a hot drink if you would like. There is also a hand sanitiser for use when you arrive and leave, and you register on the Covid app on arrival for Covid safety.
It is essential you know your counsellor’s discussions are confidential, apart from a few rare and specific situations which we will discuss in our first session. It means you can be free and open to talk about anything frustrating, annoying, embarrassing, or that’s upsetting you.
It can be easy for some people to speak to a total stranger and refreshing. Some might not know what to say; they might have their story tumble out. They might cry; they might not. They might immediately feel comfortable. It may take a while, and for some, it can be confronting and challenging. These ways of being and emotions are acceptable and normal, and there are no expectations set on you.
For the most part, in sessions, I have found people comfortable building rapport, and trust can come fast if you are comfortable together. Having an excellent connection is 70% of counselling, and the rest is therapy. Therapy is merely talking to one another and trying to come up with solutions to problems and, at times, trying to think of things differently, as we all have our go-to methods of thinking.
After your first session, you might feel tired because you have talked about your emotions which you have held inside. You might feel relief from talking about your issues, and you could have questions and answers which will come to you outside of the therapy room. It’s good to keep a journal of sorts or even take some notes down between sessions if anything outside of counselling needs to be brought back to your next session.
At the end of our first session, we discuss booking your next one, and this is usually no longer than two to three weeks, depending on how we both think you are feeling and coping. I hope this helps to eliminate some of your anxieties surrounding what therapy and counselling are. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via the website’s ‘contact me‘ link.
Take care,
Rebecca.