What does a psychologist ask in trial session?

If you decided to get psychological support for the first time, even though you know this is a positive step, you might feel anxious. Maybe for the first time you will open yourself up to someone and you don’t know what is waiting for you or you are not sure if the therapist will help you or not.

---

If you decided to get psychological support for the first time, even though you know this is a positive step, you might feel anxious. Maybe for the first time you will open yourself up to someone and you don’t know what is waiting for you or you are not sure if the therapist will help you or not.

It is human nature to worry in front of unknown situations. Therefore it is normal to feel tensious before the trial session. No matter why you are looking for support, the main goal of psychotherapy is not to change the life conditions but your perspectives to those conditions and introducing you with your already existing inner motivations. So knowing what to expect for the trial session may have a calming effect.

What to expect from the trial session?

In the trial session, your current problems will be addressed, and your therapist may ask you to share emotions, thoughts and situations that worry you. For this purpose, you may fill out some forms and questionnaires. The therapeutic process and which methods will be used are the main agenda for the trial session.

The trial session is more of an introductory one which you and your therapist get to know each other. From the beginning of the trial session, whilst your therapist tries to know you you may try to understand how that feels.

Which questions will your therapist ask?

What brought you to the therapist?

Your therapist will need to know why you needed therapy. To understand the nature of your problem and to work on it, your therapist will need to know what your experience is. It may be a difficult break-up, uncontrolled rage, stress or worry, sexual harassment or starting a new career. Defining the emotions and behaviours will help your therapist to know you better.

 How do you cope with the problem(s) that brought you to a therapist?

The problems in your life may continue because the coping mechanisms that you use for the current problems may not be sufficient or effective. To cope with stressful and difficult situations, do you meditate, exercise or socialize? Or count on the harmful habits like consuming alcohol or drugs? When the current coping mechanisms are evaluated, the aim is to learn novel perspectives to resolve the problem. Therefore, your therapist will want to talk about what is working and what is not to help you.

Did you see a therapist before?

The earlier therapeutic experiences can be quite helpful in the recent one. What did you overcome with the previous therapist or didn’t? If you had a positive experience, what was the reason? If not a positive one, why did you feel that way? What would you do differently? Those are the questions that your therapist may ask you.

Goal setting step

What are you expecting from the therapy? When you wake up the next day, what would make you feel like the therapy is working? The main goal in psychotherapy is to align you with the person you want to be and equip you with the skill and habits that will help you to cope with difficult feelings and situations. Defining reachable and solid goals is important during the therapeutic process.

Tags

• trial session
• anxiety
• psychology