Individual Session

The conversation at the beginning of a session is designed to build the therapeutic relationship. It is also designed to give an incoming client hope and to enhance whatever motivation to change that may already exist. Almost all the research shows that the better the therapeutic relationship is, the better the outcome.

Some clients don’t know exactly what they want to work on. All they know is that they absolutely don’t want to be so miserable. That’s a good beginning goal. Often, however, clients do have specific goals in mind. They don’t just want to feel better, they want to do better.

Ideally, you should leave your session feeling heard and with some steps—developed collaboratively with your therapist—that you may try to take during the week. The exercises will be designed to increase the probability that you will begin to change right away, not after months or years of therapy. In the next session, assessing what happened when you tried something new or different will be especially important and valuable for your understanding of yourself and the therapist’s understanding of you. So, what do you want to work on?