Tag Archive for: tips for teens

What to expect from a first therapy session.

Never Been to Therapy Before? Here’s What To Expect

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Beginning therapy for the first time can come with many questions, potentially making you feel overwhelmed. Here to help with that are 5 things to expect from a first therapy session.

1. Meet your therapist

The therapist-client relationship is one of the most important aspects of therapy. Determining whether client and therapist fit is a two-way street. Do you feel comfortable with this person? Do you feel heard? Could you give this person a try? 

2. Go over policies, procedures, housekeeping

Confidentiality is your right to privacy. Duty to warn maintains people’s safety. Your therapist will go over what those mean in more detail. Any other housekeeping needs- where is the bathroom, waiting room, what to do if you’re running late, etc.

3. Intake

An intake is your therapist’s way to get to know as much about you as possible.

What might be asked? What brings you to therapy, family history, medical conditions, abuse/trauma history, relationships, past treatment, strengths, goals, and more!

Not sure where to start? Your therapist will guide you.

Don’t feel comfortable sharing so soon? Your therapist will be patient and you can disclose as little or as much as you feel comfortable.

4. Wrapping up & Next steps

Your therapist will end with discussing the next steps such as scheduling a follow-up session or call, scheduling ongoing therapy, giving referrals, etc.

What’s a referral? There is a chance you are not at the right therapist for your specific needs. If that’s the case, that is okay! Your therapist could provide you with a list of suggested other options for ongoing treatment. Maybe it’s a specialized clinic or someone else who meets your availability needs. A referral is your therapist’s way of finding a better fit or service for you.

5. Yay, you did it! — Cue emotions & thoughts

Once you have taken the step to seek out therapy services you may feel a variety of emotions. Happy, proud, overwhelmed, upset, stressed, or more. You may discuss topics you haven’t in years. You may discuss difficult times in your life. You may feel overwhelmed with the process. These are typical and okay! Take this one step at a time and remember you are NOT ALONE.

Meredith is a Marriage and Family Therapy Associate in Indiana and Kentucky, a Clinical Social Worker in Kentucky, and a Licensed Social Worker in Indiana. She sees clients in person and via telehealth.

Adding Self-Care to Our Social Media Habit by Zoe Avery

Adding Self-Care to Our Social Media Habit

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Written by student intern Zoe Avery. Zoe is currently attending University of Louisville for Couples and Family therapy and has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Murray State University. Learn more about her work on our staff page. 

As a child of the internet world, raised to be “tech savvy” and inundated with all of the fun (but not actually fun at all) side effects of a technology centered society, I’ve often sought out ways to be intentional about my social media usage. If not transforming all of my accounts to purely self help, providing myself with breaks from the usual and sometimes harmful aspects seen online. By taking time to intentionally curate a safe space on my social media, I’ve worked a level of self care within these various social accounts that I just can’t seem to delete.

Tips for Taking Care of Yourself While Still Using Social Media

Adding/following friends that add positivity to your feed.

For most of us it feels fairly unrealistic to delete all social media. This being said, we can still incorporate self transformation or just a mental break into our following list. Whether this is a directly therapeutic account, religious, spiritual, or just an account that posts kittens in different sized buckets, these can be helpful in grounding us during our internet usage. 

Limiting Our Own Usage.

Yes, most of us are adults, free to do as we please, but we are never too old to benefit from a little structure. By limiting our social media usage, we can be mindful of the amount of information we are absorbing from the internet and refocus our mental space on other interests. To make this more fun or easy, you can use a friend as an accountability partner, or download an app that records your time spent on various platforms so you can’t say you lost track of time! This tip rebukes the all or nothing mindset that is typically discussed around social media, and allows us to have a little bit of social media time as a treat (because we deserve it)!

Creating Our Own Safe Space.

Remember that social media can be whatever we want it to be, so make yours safe. Set firm boundaries, be authentic, and take care of yourself. Do what you need to feel safe and held within the community you create on your pages. Whether this includes having private accounts, being selective with friends/followers, not posting at all, posting everyday, use social media in a way that pours into you instead of draining you. 

My Personal Respite on Instagram

I’d like to highlight some of my favorite therapist accounts on instagram, who offer me useful and positive information daily:

@therapyforwomen

 @michaelshahan_therapy

@nedratawwab