[mak62184]

I'm really nervous. She sounded really nice over the phone today, but I really am afraid I'm not going to be able to trust her. I don't want this to turn into sessions I had when I was 12 and really just sitting in the room with my therapist not talking for like 30 minutes or more. I always fear that is going to happen again.

[Christina86]

((((((((((((((Mak)))))))))))))))))

When is the session? Don't worry about not being able to trust her on the first or second session... those are intro for a good reason, so you can see if you two (maybe) will work out well together. I hope all goes well.

[Simcha]

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mak62184 said:
I'm really nervous. She sounded really nice over the phone today, but I really am afraid I'm not going to be able to trust her. I don't want this to turn into sessions I had when I was 12 and really just sitting in the room with my therapist not talking for like 30 minutes or more. I always fear that is going to happen again.

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<font color="#000088">Heya mak62184,

That's great that you have the guts to give it a go again. I saw a psychologist when I was 12 also (now I'm a twenty-something university student). This time if your an adult (you are, right?), you can control what you do, and if you don't like the person, you can leave.

Don't worry if you don't feel like you can open up to your new therapist right away, or if you don't feel like you click immediately the first session, as it takes time to get to know anybody, therapist included!

Let us know how your first session goes!!

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[mak62184]

It's next Tuesday evening.

And I just realized, this isn't the first time I have ever talked to a therapist in adulthood. I was seeing one at school a couple of years ago when I started skipping classes to do absolutely nothing productive. It wasn't terrible, but I don't think we ever really solved what was going wrong in my life, and I stopped going since my mood had significantly changed between the summer and the new fall semester. Since I have a bit of a better understanding of my feelings now, maybe things will go differently.

((((((((((((((((((((((( Mak )))))))))))))))))))))))

Ooooh, that first therapy session IS a really scary thing!

At my first session, my therapist asked a lot of questions, so there weren't ANY awkward silences or anything like that. I think the first session (or two) is just a chance for the therapist and client to get to know each other, get a feel for whether they can work together, etc.

Best of luck to you! Please let us know how it goes.

[Simcha]

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mak62184 said:
It's next Tuesday evening.

And I just realized, this isn't the first time I have ever talked to a therapist in adulthood. I was seeing one at school a couple of years ago when I started skipping classes to do absolutely nothing productive. It wasn't terrible, but I don't think we ever really solved what was going wrong in my life, and I stopped going since my mood had significantly changed between the summer and the new fall semester. Since I have a bit of a better understanding of my feelings now, maybe things will go differently.

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I've seen therapists like those before too. Not harmful, but not helping either. That's why I stay away from university therapists (was yours through the university?).
But do please come back and tell us how your therapy session went. Try to remember that you don't need to talk about anything you aren't ready for.
She will probably ask you directly something like "Is there anything specifically you want to focus on?" and other direct questions. At first it might throw you for a loop, but just go with it without going to deep. If you don't know exactly, that's okay too, just say "I'm not sure exactly." You'll know if it's a bad therapist or a bad match just by observing how she relates to you.

No worries, okay? It's not near as bad as you think it will be. I know it's tough though because I went through a similar experience what with the bad child therapist (and later bad university therapist). I have an EXCELLENT therapist. You have to put yourself out there to get results, but your doing it, which is great.

Good luck and come back to tell us!

[chaotic13]

mak62184,

Going to the first few sessions was not a pleasant experience for me. But then again others have posted on PC that they connected quickly to their new therapist. For me, I felt like I was getting a 3rd degree interrogation. The one thing I would do differently if I had to do it again would be to not put so much pressure on myself to provide the perfect answer to all questions asked. I'd recommend taking a deep breath, answering the questions you feel comfortable answering, and simply leave the others for another day. Even today after a year of therapy I have to remind myself that my perspectives, reactions, attitudes, moods, and answers to things CHANGE frequently. This is supposed to happen in therapy--I think.