[Rio_]

I'm new to therapy, so I apologise if that's a stupid question. But I've got a consultation with a cognitive behavioural therapist tomorrow, and I'm not sure what to expect...how different is it from a normal therapy session? What sort of questions am I going to get asked?

[(JD)]

Here's an onsite link to what questions YOU should try to ask the Therapist! http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/03/...our-therapist/

I think the T will ask what brings you to therapy, first? The T will want to make sure your problem is something CBT can help (as opposed to a medical problem for example.) Each T is different, but it's also to make sure your personalities fit, and to see if you can feel comfortable in the surroundings etc too!

A good T will be able to put you somewhat at ease during the initial consultation. GO with hope!

[Rio_]

Thanks, Sky! I'm not sure how many of those questions I'll be able to remember, but I'll try! I told him what I was wanting therapy for when I made the appointment, and he didn't say that CBT couldn't help for it, so that should be ok.

[Christina86]

Hi Rio!

I agree with the advice that Sky gave. If you're worried about forgetting a question, write them all down and bring that with you. It can help - and I wish I'd done it!

Good luck

mostly paperwork -
name
address
why you want / need to be in therapy
what your problems are
what are some things that have worked and not worked in the past
What do you want to accomplish during therapy

On your end you are able to ask any questions that you want -

qualification
costs
office hours
after hours availability
emergency numbers
the agencys protocal for self injury (self harm)
the agencys protocal for suicidal behaviors
the therapists protocal for self injury (self harm)
whether or not the sessions are vidio taped (some agencys are a teaching-training agency for up coming professionals at their intern level of certification)
What a typical session with them is like
will there be any "homework" such as journaling, artwork, workbooks, textbooks, relaxation exercises or other tools he/she wants you to practice using at home and so on.

Actually all therapy contains some cognative therapy.
cognative therapy is just working on your present day problems - finding out what those problems are and setting goals to take care of those problems and working on those set goals. heres a link about cognative therapy -

http://www.cognitivetherapynyc.com/problems.asp

[Rio_]

Thanks, Canders! Writing the questions down is a good idea...unfortunately I didn't have time to check this site before I left, so I didn't write them down and I forgot them all! I'll write them down for next week - hopefully he won't mind me asking them a week late.

[Rio_]

Thanks, myself! Yep, he did ask most of those questions. And I'll try and write a list of questions to ask for next week.

Thanks for the link, too!