Stages of Counseling
For a lot of people, counseling is a very unfamiliar territory. To help ease your anxiety about it, I have provided some details about the counseling process. When you are ready to come see me, here is how things work in my office and what the process is like.
1. Initial Contact
The first thing that occurs is you will make the initial contact to inquire about my services or to schedule an appointment. I provide a free consultation, so please feel free to call, text, or email.
2. Scheduling an Appointment
Once we have spoken and you feel you are ready to start, I will send you the paperwork to get started. After I get the paperwork back, I will schedule a virtual appointment for you on a HIPPA compliant platform.
3. The Intake Appointment
During the intake appointment, I will go over all the paperwork I gave you and answer any questions you may have. I will also discuss confidentiality and explain that no one will know you are going to see me unless you tell them yourself. If we see each other out in public, I will not acknowledge knowing you. This is to protect your privacy and keep our counseling relationship confidential. If you were referred by another professional, that person will never know you are in counseling unless you sign consent for me to discuss your case with them.
4. Building Rapport
After the initial intake appointment, I will start exploring your situation further so that I can produce a treatment plan for you.
5. Treatment Plan and Goal Setting
Once you have seen me a few times, I will set up a treatment plan, and together, we will set some goals for you to reach. During this phase, we will also work on coping strategies, arming you with the skills needed to help you get through each day and tackle situations you will encounter.
6. Referral or Termination
If after some time I feel you would benefit from seeing someone else, I will refer you to a different therapist. I will help you through the entire process so that you can feel at ease with the transition.
If you are ready to end counseling sessions, we will slowly ease the process to that it can be as smooth as possible.
Please reach out and ask any questions you might have about the counseling process. I'll be happy to help.
