Thanks and I cheat - usually when I have seen a therapist for the first time my soon to be ex therapist goes with me, that way I get to check out the new therapist and the room without having to be on the hot seat the whole time. I think there has been a total of maybe four out of all 19 therapists that I was in "fend for yourself at the first session" situations. And then two of them were so un textbook style ( you know the sit there and stare and write stiffs) anyway two of them were so un like that - One was standing in a domestic violence office where her agency in a nearby city was opening a branch, the place was boxes everywhere and she not even 5 feet tall and had the type of laugh that if you hear it you start laughing and there was so much activity of unpacking and talking of others in the room that when she told me she "doesn't bite" couldn't help but relax and laugh with her. and the other well we had a DHS meeting to go to right after my first session with her so the fomality of session one was thrown aside with "Hi Im so and so and ok we have this meeting (while trying to locate a pen because someone else used her office before my session) what do I need to know walking in to that meeting?" we had no chance of relaxing and talking our time getting to know each other it was jump right in first thing. It broke the ice and the way we worked on so many different things all at once together the "water never had a chance to freeze" so to speak.