During my first session, I told him why I was there: I wanted to get a divorce and was profoundly stuck. I cried a little at some point, and later he told me he liked that, because it showed I was emotionally accessible (or something like that), and also he really liked my honesty and directness. I did manage to communicate to him how hopeless the marriage was and how I just couldn't move forward to end it, despite trying for over a year. He asked about my relations with my mother and father when I was growing up. He offered up a big interpretation later in the session, that I was stuck in moving forward on my divorce due to past issues with my mother. This immediately rang so true and I couldn't believe this had never occurred to me before. I thought he was a genius to immediately see this (whereas he was really just a therapist saying your mother is the cause of all your problems--just kidding ). He talked a lot about EMDR, and as I had never heard about it, this took a long time. He felt it might be useful for me, to help get unstuck and process past events and trauma.

We went way over the 50 minutes, and maybe spent an hour and a half in the first session. There were no forms, no tests, no rote questions I had to answer. In fact, quite some time later, he told me he didn't even know my last name.

What I remember most about the session was how at one point, he was talking about his therapeutic approach, and he rose up out of his chair and announced, as he moved toward me, "I am a healer." It was a shamanistic moment and freaked me a little. My T has a tremendous amount of personal energy, and physically, he is a big guy. He towered over me when he stood to make his healing proclamation and I felt the energy. It seemed like, if nothing else, this guy has got balls! I liked that about him. He somehow gave me confidence and hope that I could do this (divorce), and he would help me heal and accompany me on my journey.

I was pretty much hooked after this first session, and my depression (just partly fixed due to some CBT stuff from my previous counselor) began to lift almost immediately. It was so important to have hope, and he gave me that. (EMDR at subsequent sessions completed the job.)

Anyway, he's a powerful man, and uses his energy and skill only for good. I feel incredibly lucky to have found him. There was a full month before my second session with him, but after just 2 sessions, I remember saying to my sister, "he is saving my life," and I still mean that.