I’ve tried therapy before and I didn’t connect with the therapist. Should I try again?

Finding the right therapist can be hard. Sometimes the first therapist you find is someone you don’t connect with, and this experience can make you want to give up on therapy. You are not alone in these feelings.

If this is you, I encourage you to continue to seek out someone with whom you can form a trusting and open therapeutic relationship. When this happens, therapy can be extremely rewarding. Just as you don’t get along with every individual you meet in everyday life, you might not connect with the first therapist you meet. If you are questioning whether to try counseling again, we encourage you to call or email us with any questions you might have. We would be happy to speak with you so that we can get to know you and determine if we would be the right fit.  

Is therapy confidential?

In general, the law protects the confidentiality of all communications between a client and psychotherapist. No information is disclosed without prior written permission from the client. You should be aware, however, that if you use insurance benefits to pay for all or part of your therapy, some information about your treatment will need to be reported to your insurer.

In addition, there are some special circumstances in which the law requires therapists to break confidentiality. These exceptions include:

1. If you present a danger to yourself, to others, to property, or are unable to care for yourself.
2. If there is suspected past or present child, dependent, or elder abuse or neglect.
3. If the court orders a release of information as part of a legal proceeding, or as otherwise required by the law.

How long does therapy take?

The length of treatment depends on the issue(s) presented, the level of severity, and your motivation. The first 1-3 sessions will focus on evaluating your strengths, mental health needs, and goals and developing an effective treatment plan to meet your needs. To ensure a solid foundation for progress, we require clients to begin with weekly sessions. Most of our clients continue meeting with their therapist once a week for 3-4 months.

After that initial period, you may transition to meeting less often for a couple more months before mutually agreeing to terminate treatment. If you have a very specific issue that surfaced recently, we may develop a more structured and concrete plan with a limited number of sessions. Alternatively, if you have an ongoing issue or problem affecting many areas of your life, longer-term therapy may be necessary.

Are there risks to therapy?

While therapy is designed to be helpful, it may at times be difficult and uncomfortable. You may have more symptoms initially as you verbalize and become aware of uncomfortable feelings or experiences. Remembering or talking about unpleasant events, feelings, or thoughts may result in you experiencing considerable discomfort or strong feelings of anger, sadness, worry, fear, frustration, loneliness, helplessness, or other negative emotions.

We may challenge some of your assumptions or perceptions or propose different ways of looking at, thinking about, or handling situations that may cause you to feel upset, angry, depressed, challenged, or disappointed. Attempting to resolve issues that brought you to therapy in the first place may result in changes that were not originally intended. Sometimes a decision that is positive for one family member is viewed quite negatively by another family member. There is no guarantee that therapy will yield positive or intended results; however, we are committed to supporting you in reaching your goals and will address any problems that arise over the course of therapy.

My child’s other parent and I are divorced. How do we each participate in getting our child services?

Divorced couples both need to consent to treatment before a minor client can be provided services. Therefore, both parents will need to sign our contract and consent unless one parent has 100% medical custody. If a custody order is in place, we will need to review the agreement before we provide services.