What  Goes On In a Therapy Or Life Coaching Session?

What can I expect when I go into see a counselor, life coach or psychologist for myself or for my partner and I?

I am asked this question by many people who want to schedule a first time counseling or coaching appointment.

I tell them that on their first appointment we complete the signing of forms and we will discuss your goals and explore some family history which helps me to understand your current situation. I also assure them that during the first two session they can decide whether they feel heard and comfortable with me and whether I believe I can help them to reach their goals.

Many people have attended therapy in the past and didn’t resonate with their therapist but stayed with them out of ‘duty’ or fear of being honest. I explain that feeling comfortable with their therapist is an important part of the process. After their history we review their reasons for counseling and we set goals together.

I explain that I offer three types of therapy:

1. Life Coaching- assessing all areas of their life for level of satisfaction and work toward increasing their satisfaction on a scale of 0-10.
2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy- this helps people to change their thoughts (cognitions) so their mood will positively change.
3. EMDR and TFT for deeper resolution of ongoing conflicts that negatively affect their lives significantly

We then clarify their goals and when we schedule the third session, they will have some homework to complete at home before their third session. We continue to review and assess their goals. We discuss the frequency of visits which range from weekly to biweekly and eventually to monthly checkups or ‘tuneups’, which I highly recommend to keep people on track and accountable for achievement and maintenance of their goals.

We discuss the many options of therapy including tele-sessions or phone sessions. Some clients enjoy the  convenience of Phone or  tele-sessions.  Some of my clients use their phone session during their commute to or from work for convenience, others opt for tele-sessions from the comfort of their home and others set up an ‘as needed’ option for which they pay a monthly fee for ‘as needed’ short sessions to address their family’s life situations as they arise. This is called Concierge coaching. https://www.emdrcoach.com/concierge-coaching-achieve-the-impossible/

I discuss the importance of making time for therapy and that my role is not to make decisions and push my agenda but to listen and apply my more than 25 years of experience as a nurse, educator, author, EMDR certified therapist, psychologist , mediator with a PhD in Integrative Medicine as well as certification in Integrative Medicine for mental health which offers them a holistic personalized approach to their concerns and life situations. I create a personalized plan with my clients and my goal is to help them heal at their pace.