Learning, understanding, changing, overcoming. These things take time. If you’re looking for a a quick, superficial fix, I’m probably not the right therapist for you.
Whether you think of therapy as building new skills or healing old wounds, the practice/treatment will be most effective if you do it regularly. For real help, showing up consistently to a 1x/wk therapy is the minimum effective dose.
This will be your therapy and I trust you’ll start each meeting in whatever way you’re needing. I can’t know what will feel most important to you when we sit down to meet, so I won’t pick what we talk about.
Therapy often calls on you to put in real emotional work. You’ll likely face decisions in session about avoiding feelings or taking emotional risks. We will be working together, but you’ll get out of therapy what you put into it. It’s your choice.
Building trust will take some time, but openness and honesty are the foundation that change is built on. Say the hard thing. Go where it’s uncomfortable to go.
What you say in therapy is confidential. The only exceptions revolve around safety, specifically:
If you are an imminent threat to your own safety (note: that’s different than talking about suicidal thoughts/feelings)
If you are an imminent threat to somebody else’s life
If a minor/senior is being abused
If you have concerns or questions about any of these issues before we meet, please call me so that we can discuss them.