A first appointment can feel like walking into an unfamiliar landscape.

But this session is important to explore the concerns and aspirations you have and to decide if psychological therapy can be helpful.  I need to know something about you and your life to see how I can help; you need to know something about how I work in order to feel confident about continuing into therapy.

I will usually ask you about what feels problematic in your life and also about  anything that’s going well.  Discussing your goals and hopes is important at this stage, providing direction for our work together.

I sometimes suggest completing some short questionnaires.  These may highlight areas for further discussion and also form a useful baseline for later comparison – a concrete way to be aware of change.

Confidentiality and trust are key to a helpful therapeutic relationship.  A shared understanding about confidentiality is part of an agreement for therapy that we’ll discuss before undertaking any work together.  We will also talk about how we might go about the work: for example, to meet weekly for 10 sessions; to take a particular therapeutic approach; to review progress every 5 sessions, etc.  This approach can provide a helpful structure but is open to change if something is not working for you.