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You may feel a bit nervous about your first psychotherapy session, especially if you’ve never sought therapy before. It’s normal to feel slightly anxious, but rest assured that knowing what to expect can help you feel a lot more comfortable.
First, congratulate yourself on taking the first major step toward healing. That’s a huge step, and it’s very brave to tackle the issues you can’t handle on your own. You’ll feel reassured that it’s not a big deal at all because everybody needs a little bit of help sometimes.
Dr. Judy E. Vansiea at Coping Nurse Practitioner in Psychiatry Services explains more about what to expect from your first psychotherapy session.
The first part of psychotherapy sessions is simply getting to know each other. You learn more about Dr. Vansiea, including what makes her qualified to treat you. But more importantly, she discovers more about you.
She asks about your background, including the relationships that are most important to you, your personal history, and your career. She also asks why you’re seeking psychotherapy at this time and learns about your goals from treatment.
Therapy is not designed to “cure” you or solve all of your problems for you. Instead, it’s designed to get you to look at your problems from other angles. You and Dr. Vansiea work together to develop healthy coping strategies for your issues.
After working with each other, you should feel capable of managing your problems on your own a bit better.
Sometimes, psychotherapy includes other components, depending on what comes up during therapy. Some of these components may include treating or offering:
In addition, you learn skills to help you be a more effective communicator, which will improve your relationships.
You focus on building your skills to handle your life. One of the ways Dr. Vansiea does this is through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This mode of therapy helps you to identify your negative thought patterns and learn to replace them with healthier ones.
You also learn skills such as conflict resolution, stress management, learning healthier reactions to situations, and how to cope with major changes in your life. All of these skills can help you to become a healthier and more effective person in many aspects of your life.
Most of us are taught that we’re supposed to handle our problems on our own. While you certainly don’t want to publicize all of your problems, you do need to tell someone about them. Not doing so often leads to shame and the feeling that nobody else is dealing with similar problems.
Whether you want to discuss ending your relationship, changing your job, or going back to college, talking to an impartial third party can help you to gain clarity about what you want to do in your life.
If you’ve been considering making an appointment to begin psychotherapy, there’s no better time to start than right now. Contact Dr. Judy E. Vansiea at Coping Nurse Practitioner in Psychiatry Services in Uniondale, New York, or request an appointment online. She offers telehealth services as well.
