It takes a lot of courage to begin couples therapy. At your first session, you may feel nervous. This is very normal – many of our clients are unsure of what to expect at their first therapy session.
At Keystone Counseling, you’ll begin your session with:
- Your therapist putting you at ease.
- Your therapist answering questions about the process of therapy and addressing any concerns you have.
- Your therapist covering confidentiality and its exceptions.
Next, your therapist will ask you questions about your relationship in order to understand your life together and what you hope to accomplish in therapy.
Some of the questions your therapist will ask are the following:
- How did you meet and what first attracted you to one another?
- What do you love about your partner?
- What do you enjoy doing together?
- What strengths do you each bring to the relationship?
- What is going well in your relationship currently?
- What led you to begin therapy at this time?
- What challenges are you facing right now?
- What changes would you like to make in your relationship?
- What does a typical argument look like for you?
- How do you make up after an argument or know that everything is back to normal?
- How will you know when therapy is no longer necessary? What will be different?
When your therapist has an idea of what you want to achieve in therapy, they will help you define specific and measurable goals.
Once you and your therapist establish goals, your therapist will recommend an approximate number of sessions and frequency of appointments.
Finally, at the end of the session, you will schedule your next appointment.
If you would like to read more about how to prepare for marriage counseling you can read these blog posts: