The psychotherapy process and the first interview appear in the sessions as a situation that often creates a question mark in the minds of our clients, who have not had any psychotherapy experience before, and can cause anxiety accordingly. For this reason, it is important for us, psychologists, to inform our clients and client candidates about the psychotherapy process and the first interview.
Then let's examine in general terms what topics can be covered in the first meeting with the psychotherapy process.
SESSION DURATION: Individual sessions can last an average of 45-50 minutes.
SESSION FREQUENCY: The frequency of the sessions is determined by the joint decision of the mental health professional and the client. . However, it is recommended to meet once a week at the beginning of the psychotherapy process; As the process progresses, the frequency of sessions is once every two weeks, once a month, etc., depending on the client's needs and well-being.
Since each client's psychotherapy process is unique and there are various factors affecting the duration of the psychotherapy process, this period varies from process to process. Examples of factors affecting the duration of the psychotherapy process are the differences in the reasons for the consultation of the clients and the differences in the therapy goals even if the reasons for their application are the same.
In addition, clients can add a new therapy target to their current therapy goals while their psychotherapy process continues; this may prolong the duration of the psychotherapy process.
As for what can be discussed in the first meeting, in the first meeting, the mental health specialist you will meet first introduces himself/herself to you professionally (educational information, psychotherapy school/schools, fields of study etc.).
After introducing himself/herself, the specialist informs you about the psychotherapy process (duration and frequency of sessions, points to be considered while attending sessions, client confidentiality, etc.).
In order to get to know you better and to better evaluate your reason for applying for psychotherapy, the specialist will tell you about your family, professional and/or education life, friendship relations, novel They may also ask questions about your first relationships, your daily life,
whether you have had a psychotherapy and/or psychiatry process before, and similar topics. In the light of all this information obtained in the first meeting and your expectations from therapy as the client, a roadmap is drawn for how the psychotherapy process will proceed. If it cannot be obtained, a few more interviews can be considered as evaluation interviews in order to complete the missing information.
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