How to Start a Therapy Session as a Therapist
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
- How to Start a Therapy Session as a Therapist
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Some parts of what we do in therapy are so second-nature that sometimes we forget to talk about them. In this video, I share some thoughts and opinions of some items to consider including at the start of your therapy session.
Don't forget to also check with your local jurisdiction regarding other laws and guidelines in your area as well.
00:00 Intro
00:41 Be prepared
01:23 Start on time
01:50 Have a consistent structure
02:24 Polite remarks
03:32 Incorporate hospitality
03:54 Virtual therapy specifics
05:19 Safety & Symptom Check-in
06:05 Begin your session!
07:17 Closing thoughts
08:03 TherapyNotes
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This video is geared for therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field.
Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.
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This video is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.
An interesting watch as a grad student in practicum
The all-important "and this is now the session" line. My therapist always says "So, what's new? What's different?" I didn't even notice this right away...it's a stealth transition and it works perfectly. :)
😂 Ya same. They have lots of stealthy ways for many issues. Once you realize it, you're like damn! That was good didnt even realize it, but not in a bad way.
For consistent structure, I always open visits with “so I want to follow up on our conversation last time and the ideas we discussed trying between visits, but what do you want to make sure we address?”
And for the polite remarks walking back, I typically ask “what have you been up to today” which usually occupies the time well enough, can be interesting/relevant and is different than the bland “how are you”
Great content AND your approach shows what a courteous and professional therapist you are !
Good to see the preparation before the session. Thisbis the most important part for me, as I can then pick out about 3 traumatic eventsbor limiting beliefs that the client can choose from. This puts them in control of what to let go of in the session. Preparation aldo grounds me. When I see the client, I am empowered with a plan for the session. Then I can just concentrate on keeping a safe space for them.
Maybe I can show this video to my learners 👍
Helpful to review! Thank you so much, love your energy, simple straight to the point and positive attitude.
Helpful tips, thanks Marie! Great reminder to focus on clients' comfort and feeling of safety from the moment they walk in :)
I'm watching this as I'm waiting for my online therapy session! I'm in more of "maintenance" mode, but this stuff rings true. It's all about client- centered respect.
Brilliant ! I am just starting my therapeutics counselling journey and can see so much basic respect and courtesy shining through
DON'T ask how are things in the lobby! I've thought of lying and saying like "Well I've stopped myself twice on my way here from driving into the overpass support beams on the interstate." Just to get a rise out of them but never did.
Although I stole another person's idea and would say "If you want the truth you need to wait 2 mins" as we walked back.
Now it's a simple "Ready?" In the lobby and "How are things?" in session. That is my kind of therapy. No BS.
Although they did start getting the room perfect for where I like to sit which is not needed but a really nice gesture.
Great video with practical information. I can make so adjustments to my style. Thanks for what you do!
Whew, I do all of the things you mentioned in this video. I agree, it creates routine and safety for my clients. However, my new office is in a building where I don't get to adjust the thermostat myself and will wait and see if I need to have the building mgr tweak something in the summer. Thanks for sharing!
I like this video! I'm an RD so, I find her videos helpful. I especially appreciate each tip/snip-it was linked in the show notes. Yay!
the sound machine you have going on is soooo fricckin relaxing
1. Ask about their comfortability ( temperature or etc)
2. If online , ask if the connections is okay, location etc
3. Ensure Confidentiality
4. Have safety n symptom check in (if feeling suicidal, depression, anxiety etc)
5. Start session : so we can pick up with last time/ do u have any preferences .. / last time we focus on this this 1-2 summary sentences
Good topic. I, too, review my notes before the client comes in. Doing that is like gathering and integrating the client's, therapist-client, movement over time. With that info and conceptualisation in my mind, I go the waiting room, invite the client into my office, sit down, and say, "so...what have you been noticing"? Sometimes I say, "what's it been like to be you this past week?".
After they answer these open questions and I find out their orientation to self and world, and me, their affect, thinking, appearance, voice, I skillfully lead into the ongoing work, the goals let's say. Exception: urgent, emergent issues, including safety or med management, substances, legal actions.
This is great!
Have you done/could you do a video about ending session??
Yes! A good discussion is when clients start imposing at the ending of session.
Great content and detail. And your info applies to consultation work in general, not just therapy!
I love these tips! I sometimes comment on the weather to ease into the session
This was a great video! So helpful!
These suggestions are very helpful, especially for a therapist like me who works with quite a few clients who are working to manage heightened anxiety, stress and ADHD.
Thanks so much. This is very helpful for me.
This is a great video. I didn’t even consider this a component 🤦🏽♀️ I DO IT but don’t realize it. This is great to share with student clinicians. Thanks 👏
That's one of the things they teach you first in Therapy 101, that you've spent your life doing the things that make therapy beneficial, you just didn't realize it until you got the traning that named it 😉
Great information - as always! Thank you. Any tips for an initial consultation?
This is helpful, thank you ! I would like to know how do you do to pass assesments (or psychological tests) for your clients in online therapy?
I almost always start my sessions with some yogic breathing to get us both focused, and then set an intention
Setting the intention can be a subtle way of guiding the client, giving feedback about the way they were thinking last time, suggesting a different way they can look at their lives or themselves
Then i ask about the tasks we set the previous week
Yes I have questions on all of it's
This is so weird listening to because I have a good therapist that is late sometimes. I don't feel less important to her. I just know she has a full workload and is there when I need her. I don't mind. I think it's also important to take into consideration, the relationship. If it's a good fit, I'm assuming for others it is, then it depends on how you two interact with each other. As a first impression, yes. Be on time. and she was.
Lol my therapist is always late and once I even had to wait 40 minutes but it's ok 😂👍
Hello, Good tips! How do you prepare for a session in only a few minutes? Does it come with experience? Would love to know!
What helps me is to write myself a little note at the end of the session; a brief summary and next steps - so it's like i'm doing my session prep ahead of time and then just reading that quickly. Feels self-loving too to receive that degree of prep!
Hello! What about the initial meeting? To hug or not to hug? Handshake? I’m transitioning from online to in person and haven’t done much in person work. Would love your thoughts!
And, note taking in-person-how do you do it? ❤
Hug or shake hands only if the client's culture allows. My two cents.😅
Just in case you were still wondering. When I was first starting therapy, if a therapist went in for a hug I would hate that and also not have the confidence to tell them it made me uncomfortable. I would have just gritted my teeth through the session then ghosted them and never come back. Your clients might not be the same. But some of them might.
@@Liloldlizlol just incase it's still in then heck no I would never ever hug a client I would ghost them 😂🤣
Also for the OP I don't - I write a review in the previous week's invoice as I have everything transparent and also it keeps notes for people to read during the week and for me to flick through before session - and I allow 2 hours per session - 30 minutes to prepare, 1hr session and 30 minutes to review and write the notes and send as an invoice or receipt.
This is so nice 😊am a psychologist to be
I was doing teletherapy on the phone (no video) and she just started every session with "how are you?" and that was it...I was just expected to take it from there. I found it extremely jarring. I wish she had seen this video.
My advice. "Don't Be So Horny To Begin Asking About Goals For The Future." Depending on your client he/she may have gone through with goals before. To just put together goals for only the sake of having something to look forward to isn't healthy either. Patient may have tried making goals before but wasn't able to make them happen. Only for therapist to point out "You're Trying Too Hard You Have To Let It Happen Naturally." Sometimes you may need to rehash old attempts to figure out a new strategy. Perhaps a bit more.
Agreed, and, I think there's a point in the intake session where they've said a lot about what they don't want, about what's not working, and you can naturally ask, 'so what *do* you want?'and it feels like a natural progression rather than a mis-matched coachy intervention! Hopefully this can become of interest to them, even if not as a 'goal', then as a vision of what could be possible - without that there's not much to move towards.
I am new on there's
No help on depression and anxiety and other
Do one on one on it's
Abcd
Nice experience
Sn: you look like Charlotte York (sex and the city) when you ran through the door 😊
Like , like , like totally
If you follow this advice you'll be in therapy for decades! The therapist is not your friend. client wants to deviate the therapist iisok with that ( what it actually means is you will never solve your original issue but you'll find many more issues once she let's you go there.
Depends on the population you are working with but yeah, you want a therapist to solve your issues and send you on your way
I have an idea, why don't we create a WhatsApp group so that we can get educated on what do, for beginners
You are very very good but why are you such in a hurry to say everything?
Could you please let go of this artificial funny stile and speak slowly?