In general, individuals who have not met with a psychologist before can be curious and anxious about what awaits them in the first session and what they will encounter. And sometimes they give up or postpone getting support because of this anxiety. What Does a Psychologist Ask at the First Interview? What to Tell the Psychologist They seek answers to questions such as: In this article, I will try to explain the process briefly and explain what is done in a psychotherapy session and how the process works.
Deciding to see a psychologist/deciding to seek professional support can sometimes be challenging. Because while the person could not explain the problem he experienced even to the people closest to him, it can be scary to talk about this situation to a person he has never met. He may even feel that the problem he is trying to deal with is unsolvable. Sometimes, the problems become such that a professional who can look impartially and objectively may be needed, since the problems are caused by the relatives of the person.
First Interview: When you come for the first interview, you will be taken to the waiting room and when your session time comes, you will go to the interview room. At first, you are asked to tell about yourself so that your psychologist can get to know you as much as possible. At first, I ask my client if there are any questions about the process because sometimes there may be a problem of focusing due to the questions in their minds. And one of the first questions often asked is How long will therapy last? and how often we will meet.
First of all, it is very difficult to say at first how long the process will take. It depends on the person’s needs. Remember, problems are as unique as individuals, not everyone may suffer from the same condition and their coping skills are different, so everyone’s process is unique. It would not be correct to say a general time period.
As for the second question, this actually varies according to the individuals and the problem. The frequency of the meeting can usually be predicted in the first session, but this may change in the following sessions. This change can be arranged at the request of your psychologist and you.
Your psychologist will then ask a few questions to get your history. It is very important to give correct answers to these questions. (Don’t think that you will be judged, belittled, etc., remember that you are a professional and will approach what you say in a neutral way. And this information he wants to learn is the information that is needed in the future, so biased information may affect the process.)
Your Story: I am informed about how I can support you during the counseling process by trying to complete your story about your complaints in one session, and in two sessions if there is more than one factor affecting the situation.
Generally, in the first session, we try to gather information by asking questions similar to the following and try to evaluate your concerns correctly.
-How can I help you today?
-Could you give some information about the reason that prompted you to meet with a psychologist?
These questions are generally the opening questions of the session, and then the problem is tried to be detailed by asking questions such as what the current problem is, when it started, where it started or with whom it increased, how it ended, what you did before to overcome this problem. Apart from these, we try to understand what your symptoms have been, your relationships, interests and strengths.
Feedback: Towards the end of the session, we try to summarize the topics discussed and give some feedback, and you will be given feedback on how we will handle the problem according to the psychotherapy method we will apply. At the same time, a plan is prepared by getting information about what you expect from this consultancy process and what your goals are.
Duration: In general, the counseling process takes about 45-50 minutes, although it may differ according to the method applied. However, as I mentioned above, the first meetings sometimes require a second session or a longer time.
In short, don’t worry if you don’t know what to talk about in the first session, your psychologist is there to help you with that.
