Hi Starfish!
Umm, I've been going for a year and a half with a 6 month break. Initially, what brought me? Something completely unrelated to where I'm at now, ha ha. Umm, I wanted help "coming out" to my grandmother, that was the big reason for me. Also, as a result, I had significant anxiety surrounding it which led me to belive I needed some "help" or a safe place to talk.
So, I am lucky in that I loved my t from the getgo. An instant chemistry and everything clicked. The inital meeting was set up over the phone free for 20 minutes. Simple easy stuff, whatever you want to say to introduce yourself and maybe explain what has led you to this point (symptoms, like anger, crying, anxiety etc) I liked her voice, she seemed kind and so I agreed to a first session.
Whe i met her, she was much younger than i expected and i had my reservations about her ability to help me.
We agreed we needed to see if this would work for us both, in other words, we had to connect or like one another to move forward or I should go elsewhwere. It was as much for her as me though, she said it was like we were interviewing eachother. She told me about herself, her education, what kind of things she helps ppl with etc.
I told her easy stuff like, where i work if i liked it, do i have friends, family etc. Once she sensed my ease, she asked me more personal stuff, and always said I never had to answer if i was uncomfortable or didn't want to. These were questions about my current realtionships with ppl and so on.
They might ask family history type questions and ask what brought you there. No problems are too big, or too small. They are your problems and they are cause to bring you there so they are viable. No worries on that, it should be a safe, and non-judgmental environment okay?
I think you should check it out, and always know that it's a little like dating, if you don't feel some sort of chemistry, it's ok to meet someone else, and maybe yet another until you find a good "fit".
Let us know how you fare....Good Luck!!