What should my child expect for the first session?

1. You will join the virtual appointment and it will notify the therapist you are waiting for them. Often, they will be in a meeting with someone else beforehand and will come to find you at your appointment time.

2. Once you are admitted you will see the therapist come up on video. The therapist will already have your appointment form containing the basic information but may want to confirm some additional details.  This can help to break the ice.

3. From here, different therapists will work in different ways.

• Some may have a structured questionnaire that they will go through with you to do a full assessment of the child’s history, your concerns and the reasons that you are seeking therapy.
• Other therapists prefer to work in a less structured way, opening with some variation of “What’s bringing you here?” and let the conversation flow from there.

In cases where younger children are involved, your therapist may use different approaches to engage the child or family members, for instance, creating a family mural or family sculpture, or through structured play.  This allows children to have the opportunity to communicate in a way that is more familiar to them.

Many therapists will view the first therapy session as an evaluation period.  The goal here is to get to know one another better and to see if you are a good fit. One of the most important factors in therapy is that you and your child feel comfortable with your therapist and that you feel like you are a good match.  Not every person clicks well with every therapist, and your therapist understands this.

Feel free to bring up questions or concerns if there is something that you don’t feel so comfortable with or think that the therapist’s approach isn’t what you need.  We appreciate your feedback and your therapist wants to make sure that you get the best service possible.  Many times, with your input, the therapist is able to adapt his or her approach so that it may be more helpful for you, your personality style and your unique needs.

If for any reason, your therapist really doesn’t feel like a good fit, this is completely okay. Your therapist is able to help facilitate a transfer to another professional who would better suit your needs.