What is Therapy Like with Samantha?

Every therapist brings to the table their own perspective and therapeutic process when conducting therapy. Which might lead you to wonder what therapy is like with Sam? When I am meeting with clients for the first time, my role is to help you feel comfortable, safe, and validated. First sessions can trigger feelings of uncertainty and uneasiness. My job is to help you feel comfortable to share at your comfort level. My role as a therapist is to guide you through your journey and offer tools, reflections, insight, and skills, but not the answers. I will empower you to identify what solutions would look like.

First Session Expectation:  Unfortunately, the first session will not offer all the answers. The first session is a mix of assessment and background. I will ask questions to explore the background of your story and what brought you to the appointment. I may ask about family dynamics, work, relationships, symptoms you have been experiencing, and past mental health treatment. Towards the end of the session, I will check in with how the session has been going and if there was anything you might have missed to share. We will then identify together and explore goals for treatment. My approach to treatment is goal directed, so at the end of each session I will ask you what you would like your goal to be between now and your next appointment. We will create a treatment plan with both long- and short-term goals and identify what progress would look like.

Expectations for the remainder of treatment: The rest of the sessions are less background and assessment and focused on targeting goals we identified. We start with a check-in on how your week was going. I then move into exploring topics of interest that were identified in the first session. My therapy is client directed, so we will work on what you are wanting to focus on. I may offer insight into different areas, but you will be able to direct the session. As you make progress towards your treatment goals we will check in and identify progress. There might be times where we work on reframing negative thinking, identifying solutions, implement mindfulness, practice emotion regulation, or explore patterns in communication or behavior. There might be times when I challenge or confront a maladaptive pattern. I might also help you practice skills within the session.

Identifying the end of treatment: All therapy eventually will come to an end, but how do I know you're ready? There are a couple of things I look for when identifying termination. I explore progress towards goals and identify if there are any new goals you would like to focus on. As you make progress, we will start to taper down appointments meaning coming less frequently. I will make sure you have resources in place, so that you feel confident handling daily stress on your own. It will be a process that we will talk about. You can end treatment at any point in time. My hope is that we can create a collaborative process that instills you with confidence. Terminating can be bittersweet. My hope with all my clients is that you will get to a place where you will not need me but will know I am there if you do.