How to Prepare for Your First Appointment
I know it can be overwhelming to take the first step to see a psychologist, and often people wonder what will happen in their initial appointment. To take the mystery out of it, I have written some information on what generally occurs in the consulting room and a few tips to make the most of your session.
First and foremost, give yourself a pat on the back for taking this leap. The truth is, it takes a lot of courage to meet with someone you don’t know to share your inner world. Taking this step deserves to be celebrated.
Before the big day has come, often your psychologist will already have some information on your presenting concerns. You may have been sent an online form to fill in which will ask questions such as what you would like help with, some demographic questions such as your age, job, and relationship status, and whether you have seen a psychologist before. This will help us to determine whether we are a good fit for what you are wanting help with, and if we aren’t, we can help point you in the right direction.
Once you have returned this form, we will offer you a date and time that works for you to come in. We will also send you some consent and payment forms to save you time on the day.
When you arrive, you will be greeted by your psychologist in the waiting room and taken in to the consulting room. Each psychologist has their own process, but often the following points will be discussed.
What brought you here? This is your chance to let us know what has been bothering you. Your psychologist may ask you questions such as how long you have been experiencing this, some extra information about symptoms you may be experiencing, and if you have any family history of anything similar. It is okay if you don’t know the answer to these questions. We will work together to achieve a collaborative understanding of your mental health concerns.
Treatment history. If you have had any psychology or psychiatry input in the past, we may ask about your experience. I will often ask clients what they learnt and any techniques they either found helpful or unhelpful.
An overview of your life and significant events. Depending on how much time we have left in the session, I like to ask about a snapshot of different times in the clients life. I may ask about your childhood and if you got along with your parents, any experiences of bullying or trauma, and significant life events that have stuck with you. This helps me to understand you as a person more, and if your concerns have been longstanding, this helps me to look at how your concerns may have developed and gives me more insight to the best way to reach your treatment goals. For some, these topics may be difficult to discuss, so I always make sure to mention that there is no rush and we can take things at your own pace. My stance is that the client is in control of what they do and don’t want to share, and that will be fully respected.
Risk status. For some people, they have struggled with thoughts of taking their own life or self-harm. This is important to discuss as your safety is your psychologists number one priority. If this is the case, together you can create a plan to feel confident to manage when these thoughts or urges occur in future sessions.
Your goals. At the end of the session, you may be asked if you had any particular goals for coming. Examples of these may include to feel less depressed, improve self-esteem, spend less time on compulsions, etc. For others it may be, I’m not too sure, but I just want to feel better! There is no right or wrong answer. The main thing is that we are on the same page about what you would like to focus on to we can create a treatment plan accordingly.
At the end of your session, your psychologist will likely ask you if you have any questions for them, and will discuss frequency of future appointments if this hasn’t been done already. That’s about it! You will exit your first session feeling like a weight has been taken off of your shoulders. After your appointment, it is then your psychologists job to look through all of the notes they took down and create a treatment plan. This means that they will begin to plan out what they believe would help you achieve your goals, including psychological education, strategies, and approach.
In future sessions, it will often be a balance of working on your treatment plan, while also supporting you through your challenges week to week. Your psychologist may give homework tasks to help you practice skills between sessions. If you ever have any questions or concerns about your treatment, we invite you to share these as it is our goal to meet your expectations.
I hope this has helped to give a little insight and I look forward to you experiencing the relief therapy can bring.
- Katie Waller