What is Counselling Therapy?

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This is ultimately up to you! In my experience, many of the clients I work with have reached a point in their lives where they recognize that they are tired of living the way they are, and are ready to learn new ways of navigating their presenting issues. It is a conscious choice they make for themselves, without being forced or coerced by others. 

This takes an immense amount of courage, and if you are reading this, it is likely you are considering beginning your own journey. I welcome you to send me an email or call me, and we can discuss if I am the right clinician for you. If I believe (or you believe) that I may not be the best fit for you, and you may have a better experience with another clinician, I am happy to provide you with referrals.

This is always a challenging question to answer, because it depends! It depends on why you are in therapy, how motivated you are to change, your expectations, etc. Some clients may begin noticing a shift in symptoms after one session, as they have found a space where they can authentically show up as themselves and experience a nonjudgmental and supportive relationship. 

In my experience, therapy typically takes between 6-24 sessions, but there are always outliers. What may be useful is to enter therapy with a specific goal, as this can assist in creating a clear plan for your therapeutic experience.

The first few therapy sessions (2-4) are intended for myself and my client to get to know one another. This means I will likely be asking questions to gather information about "why now": why have you decided to enter therapy at this point in time? When did your presenting issues begin? Have you tried therapy in the past, was it helpful or not? 

I collaborate with my client to create a goal moving forward. Once I have a general idea of how best to assist you, I can utilize my past experience of helping clients with similar issues, as well as my clinical training, to create a plan of how we can work together to reach your goals.

After these initial sessions, we will deepen our work together in order to focus on your goals. The truth is that while I will use my clinical knowledge to encourage you to try new things that will possibly be out of your comfort zone, YOU are the expert on your life. I will need you to collaborate in the process to let me know if things are too scary (at this point in time) to try on your own, if you're not quite ready for a certain skill, or if you just don't feel comfortable trying something. 

I always encourage and inquire about feedback after every session; if I have done something that does not work, that hurt you, or you don't agree with, I welcome you to tell me. I will not take these things personally, and this type of feedback is relevant to your process.

For many of my clients, they are with me approximately 50 minutes every 2 weeks. This means they have about 335 hours between every time we meet. If they were simply to rely on the time we spend together, and not bother practicing the skills they have learned outside of therapy, there wouldn't be much of a point to them attending therapy!

Homework looks different depending on the client I am working with. I may provide them with some worksheets, teach them an interpersonal skill and have them practice with people in their life, work with them to develop a plan to practice behaviours that cause anxiety in order to overcome said anxiety, and many other things. 

I do not have my clients do homework if I do not believe it would be helpful for them. That being said, any assigned homework is for your benefit and not mine. If you choose not to do the homework, that doesn't impact me, but it may hinder your progress. There are no grades or gold stars given for the homework I provide, I only require you do your best with it.

I encourage people to bring their family members with them to their session(s) if it is relevant, all I ask is to be notified that you will be bringing someone with you. If you decide to bring a family member to a session, they are going to be included in the session, this means I will also be asking them questions, inquiring about their observations, and welcoming them to share their thoughts and feelings with you.

Often, family members are incredibly useful to the therapeutic process. They see us in our outside environment and may be able to offer their own perspectives on factors that are contributing to our presenting symptoms. 

It can also be a great opportunity to have open conversations with your family member about the ways you would like to be supported by them, or to navigate difficult conversations with the support of a therapist.

I welcome clients to take notes during their therapy sessions, if you believe this would be clinically useful for you, and not too distracting, then please do!

Regarding recording therapy sessions, I review this on a case by case basis. There are many considerations (ethical and legal) that go into making a decision such as this, and I rarely say yes when a client makes this request. Under no circumstance is a client to record their therapy sessions without first obtaining consent from myself. If a client is recording without my consent, the therapeutic relationship will be terminated.