In the beginning, we will discuss your concerns and goals for counseling/therapy. At the end of the first session, we will give you some information and assessment forms for you to take home and complete. It is critical that you give sufficient time and attention to completing these forms and return them to us no later than the next meeting.

After 2-3 sessions, we will tell you how we see your situation at this point and how we think we should proceed. We view therapy as a partnership between us. You define the problem areas to be worked on; we use some special knowledge to help you make the changes you want to make. Therapy is not like visiting a medical doctor. It requires your very active involvement. It requires your best efforts to change thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. For example, we want you to tell us about important experiences, what they mean to you, and what strong feelings are involved. This is one of the ways you are an active partner in therapy.

We function as a partnership in which you and your counselor plan to work together. We agree on a plan that we will both work hard to follow. From time to time, we will look together at our progress and goals. If we think we need to, we can then change our treatment plan, its goals, and its methods.

An important part of your therapy will be practicing new skills that you will learn in our sessions. We will ask you to practice outside our meetings, and we will work together to set up homework assignments for you. We might ask you to do exercises, to keep records, and perhaps to do other tasks to deepen your learning. You will probably have to work on relationships in your life and make long-term efforts to get the best results. These are important parts of personal change. Change will sometimes be easy and quick, but more often it will be slow and frustrating, and you will need to keep trying. There are no instant, painless cures and no “magic pills.” However, you can learn new ways of looking at your problems that will be very helpful for changing your feelings and reactions.

Most of our clients see us once a week for 3 to 4 months. After that, we meet less often for several more months. Therapy then usually comes to an end. The process of ending therapy, called “termination,” can be a very valuable part of our work. Stopping therapy should not be done casually, although either of us may decide to end it if we believe it is in your best interest. If you wish to stop therapy at any time, we ask that you agree now to meet then for at least one session to review our work together. We will review our goals, the work we have done, any future work that needs to be done, and our choices. If you would like to take a “time out” from therapy to try it on your own, we should discuss this. We can often make such a “time out” be more helpful.

If you could benefit from a treatment we cannot provide, we will help you to get it. You have a right to ask us about such other treatments, their risks, and their benefits. Based on what we learn about your problems, we may recommend a medical exam or use of medication. If we do this, we will fully discuss my reasons with you, so that you can decide what is best. If you are treated by another professional, we will coordinate my services with them and with your own medical doctor.

If for some reason treatment is not going well, we might suggest you see another therapist or another professional in addition to me. As a responsible person and ethical therapist, we cannot continue to treat you if our treatment is not working for you. If you wish for another professional’s opinion at any time, or wish to talk with another therapist, we will help you find a qualified person and will provide him or her with the information needed.