What to expect from counseling or therapy in Lake Oswego, OR

After some soul-searching, you decided that therapy would be helpful for you after the struggles of the last couple of years. You have found a therapist in Lake Oswego, OR or the greater Portland area and you are nervous to start your first session because you don’t know what to expect.

What Can You Expect from Counseling or Therapy in Lake Oswego, OR?

Paperwork is usually the first step after selecting your therapist. You will be expected to review and understand the therapist’s policies and procedures, how they approach counseling, how they keep confidentiality, and the basics of their fees and/or insurance coverage and the risks and benefits of counseling. You are expected to sign these documents giving what is called your “informed consent” to treatment by the therapist. This documents must be signed and kept on file for you to be under the therapist’s care. You can ask any questions about these documents and about the therapists professional background, confidentiality, etc before you give consent.

With location, therapists vary in terms of how they are offering counseling — some are meeting in person with masks, and others are having their sessions via computer/Telehealth. For Telehealth, you can expect (and you can verify with your new therapist) that the platform chosen for your therapy is or should be private and secure. Expect for your therapist to be in a private space, and you too should ensure you are in a private space, so you feel free to share your thoughts and feelings without someone overhearing you. The public library or local coffee shop may not allow you that privacy, so think ahead.

If you are going into your therapist’s office, as of April 2022 in Lake Oswego and other parts of Oregon, you should expect to wear a mask. Therapy can still be very effective once you get comfortable wearing the mask and tapping in to your real thoughts and feelings.

Hopefully you also can expect to feel comfortable in the office space— that the office is somewhat cozy, and it is free from distractions and noise. Each therapist has their own aesthetic, but hopefully you find it comfortable and inviting.

Expect to have time to ease into the therapy session

Your therapist will help you to feel comfortable and give you time to relax and work through any nervousness. You are able to go as slow as you want in sharing your thoughts, feelings, your background, and anything that feels significant to you. Your therapist first and foremost wants to get to know YOU. He or she might start with asking what you like to do for enjoyment, who you have in your life for support and relationship, and even what type of career you have. Your therapist will want to understand how you feel about these things in your life — are you happy, feeling good, or are there areas that are causing strife and stress for you. You can expect that he or she is trying to understand you more and begin to uncover some of your reasons for coming to therapy.

You can expect in the first session or two to also identify a few goals, or what you would like to get from therapy. Therapy is a time, energy and financial investment, so expect to set some objectives so you know when you are starting to feel better and making progress towards resolving what has brought you into therapy.

Expect your therapist to be empathetic, respect you and your history, and gently help move you towards your goals. Therapists go through a lot of training in various specialty areas, yet more importantly, want the relationship they have with you to help be a catalyst for change. They will help you process feelings, flush out your worldview, maybe ask about your history, and inquire a little more deeply into what might be holding you back from any change you are looking for. And depending on your goals, they will walk down the path of that treatment with you, helping you to understand yourself more, try new thought patterns, or new ways of doing things, and provide feedback necessary to help you progress. You can expect support and information/knowledge to help on that path.

Expect that YOU will make the change

It’s worth mentioning that you should not necessarily expect ADVICE from your therapist unless you ask for it (and even then it is often not given). Therapist want to help YOU discover what you want and need in life — after all, YOU are the expert on YOU. Only you have lived in your shoes, with your history and your experiences. Therapists can help you weigh pros and cons, help you understand yourself and your situation more clearly, offer reflections, and even knowledge about trauma, human development, communication strategies, attachment, anxiety and the strategies that can help. But you can expect that YOU ARE THE ONE WHO HAS TO MAKE THE CHANGE.

I hope this helps you to know what to expect from your first counseling sessions in Lake Oswego, OR and the surrounding Portland area. If you have any more questions, feel free to call me at (503) 327-6971 — I’d be happy to hear about what is happening and help guide you. If you are looking for help in your relationships, or you are struggling with life balance, anxiety or specifically ADHD, you can read more about how I can help here.