Seeing a psychologist for first time and don’t know what to ask or expect

[Sezi]

So I have taken the next step and have seen my gp in relation to my anxiety and depression. She has started me on medication (I’m fine with these, still in the adjustment phase so mentally a little bit over the place).

She has also referred me to see a psychologist. I am meeting her for first time next week and I don’t know what I should do prior in order to be prepared. Don’t know how I will be but very unsettled/nervous/anxious. I’m scared.

I don’t know what to expect or to....I don’t know. Can you please give me some advise? Stressing out a bit over it

[Croix]

Dear Sezi~

Welcome. I've read some of your other posts, just becuse you are in the health section does not mean you are invulnerable and not able to take advantage of what is available yourself -it is no reflection on your abilities in that area -quite the reverse, you are putting your knowledge to good use.

Writing things down and giving them to your GP would have been a big step, but you did it intelligently and used paper to get everything in order and make the burden of face-to-face less.

With the very real stress of an abusive relationship and resultant DVO you need all the support you can get. I hope there are friends and family there for you.

Visiting a psycologist for the first time (in my experience anyway) is a two-way thing. I set out what I believed was wrong and asked what the procedure was going to be, and specifically waht was it's aim, which might not be all of the things that might need help but something attainable.

I'd also ask what to expect and if you are on a MH Plan how things are going to be scheduled to use the 6 or 10 visits to best effect. In fact it may be next year's allotment could follow on at the end of this year.

Now this might sound very formal, and perhaps go against you nature to ask such specific questions, however a good professional will welcome them as they show an understanding of the procedure and ability to plan.

If there is time left over treatment may commence and you may be given 'homework'

It depends rather a lot if the pair of you 'click'. Faith in the therapist may not be instant but should develop quite quickly if it is going to happen.

What do you think?

I'm sure it will be fine

Croix

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Sezi,

Thank you for your post and for your question. I understand how daunting it can be and please know that you're not alone in this. A lot of people find it very overwhelming to see someone for the first time. If it helps in anyway, know that your psychologist will be very aware of this!

I have seen lots of different psychologists and they are all a little bit different in their first session. Sometimes they've talked more, sometimes I've talked more. At the very least, the psychologist will want to try to get to know you a little bit and make you feel comfortable.

Here's some things that might happen in the session -

- They'll ask you 'what brought you here'. You can say as much or as little as you like here. Psychologists understand that it's not easy to open up.

- They'll talk with you about things like informed consent and what to expect. This might include things like fees, their confidentiality and when they would have to break confidentiality and record-keeping.

- They'll talk about their approach/es and what sorts of techniques they use. Some for example do CBT, ACT, DBT, psychotherapy. There is soo many different ones out there so they might give a bit of a rundown of which one they use and what that might look like.

- They might ask for a bit of background information. Again, totally up to you how much you want to disclose - but it might look like whether you are working/studying, who you are living with, friends/family and parents.

I hope that this helps a little. Sometimes the first session is just about figuring whether you might be a good fit. There's really no pressure to talk about anything too heavy or personal. There's also nothing that you need to do to prepare, except bring your medicare card or health care card if you have one.

If you're still unsure or looking for some more advice, you could consider looking up Kati Morton on YouTube - she's a therapist in the US who has made lots of videos about seeing a therapist and what to expect. You could also have a look here -

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/anxiety/first-time-seeing-a-psychologist

Sorry about the long post 🙂 Hopefully it is helpful though.

RT