I’m nervous about starting therapy. Is that normal?

Therapy can be vulnerable and new, so it’s natural to be nervous. It can feel intimidating to sit with someone and talk about how you feel. The fear around that can feel overwhelming. Taking steps to seek help for the challenges we face is a huge step. It takes courage to realize we can’t face our issues alone.

Therapy is a space where you can be yourself and feel safe from judgment, including feeling nervous. Bridge Family Therapy is committed to finding a way to care for your nervousness and ensure sessions are as comfortable as possible.

I’m here if you want to talk about it during a free phone consultation.

How do I know if you are the right therapist for me?

Take your time to read through my website. If you sense that we may be a good fit based on what you are reading, you can schedule yourself in the online scheduler.

During a free phone consultation, you can ask questions about our approach, about how we have helped other people like you before, or any other questions you may have that are specific to you. You’ll also be able to speak to what’s bothering you and we can decide together how we can help.

It may be helpful to think of the first few sessions as trying out the waters together. During the sessions, you’ll be able to see how you feel working with us. Our approach is not going to work for everyone. What’s most important to us is that you find someone who you feel is the right fit for you. We can explore that together.

What if I don’t want to talk about something?

If something feels overwhelming or even terrifying to discuss, that’s actually very normal. It can often feel difficult to talk about some things. During our sessions, it will always be up to you if you feel ready to talk about something or not. We will collaborate on understanding what you feel ready to open up about. Together we will work through the difficult stuff.

You can also share with us that you are nervous to open up about something and we can talk about that too. Whatever is present for you. Whatever you are going through. Bring that to the session and we can explore that together.

I’m scared that if I open up, you will think I’m crazy.

If you open up to us, we will not think you are crazy, we will think you are courageous and human. Many of our clients have had the same fear (that people would think they are crazy). Through our life journies and working with many clients, we know how ‘normal’ your experience is.

We believe you. Nothing you can say will cause us to judge you.

We know many of us are overwhelmed, we may have normal reactions to abnormally challenging experiences, we are humans trying to human.

Whatever it is you’re going through, we provide a comfortable space where we will listen to you and give you our full support.

Does what we talk about in therapy remain confidential?

You may be concerned that your friends, family, or work colleagues could learn what you have said during therapy. So, we want you to know that unless there is an imminent danger to yourself or someone else, everything you share with us is completely confidential.

We highly respect your privacy and value your trust.

You can rest assured that you can talk about anything without fear of that information getting out.

If you have specific questions about how confidentiality works, you can ask during your free phone consultation or anytime during our work together.

How long will therapy take?

You might be asking about how long therapy will take because you are currently struggling and want relief fast.

If this is true for you, we want you to know that on average, new clients start seeing progress after the first couple of sessions.

By that point, they feel a little calmer and more hopeful that healing is possible.

The total duration of therapy varies from client to client. Some of our clients find 3-6 sessions to be enough to resolve immediate challenges. While other clients feel more supported by longer-term therapy.

We will work together to find the length of time that works for you.

What can I expect during the first session?

Overall, you can think of the first session as a free-flowing conversation through which we start getting to know each other. We’ll invite you to share more about yourself and we can also talk about what’s worked or not worked for your mental health in the past.

Some questions that we like to ask during a first session include:

• What brought you to therapy?

• What goals would you like to reach by going to therapy?

• What do I need to know about you to understand your current challenges?

You can ask us questions as well. You might be curious about our expertise or how future sessions work.

The most important part of a first session is to notice how you feel during and after the session.

If you feel supported, seen, and at ease with us, we can discuss if you’d like to meet again.

How can I get started?

We’re here to talk during a free phone consultation where you can speak to what’s bothering you and we can decide together how I can help.