What to Expect in Your First Therapy Session

Alissa Friedlander, LCSW

Most people don't know what to actually expect walking into a first session, and the not-knowing is often part of what keeps them from booking one. Here's what it actually looks like: we talk. I'll ask what brought you in, what you've already tried, and what you're hoping might be different. There's no test to pass and no homework waiting for you afterward. You don't need a tidy explanation of what's wrong — most people arrive without one, and that's normal.

A first session is really just a chance to see whether the room feels right for you. If it doesn't, that's useful information too. Individual therapy here is psychodynamic and relational, which means we pay attention not just to what's happening in your life, but to what happens between us in the room — often where the most telling information shows up.

If you've been putting off that first call because you're not sure what to say, you don't need to have it figured out first.