What to Expect in Your First Counselling Session

What to expect when you enter a counselor’s office*

- The counselor might greet you directly when you arrive for your session, or there might be a receptionist who will take your details and guide you to the counselor’s office. You might be required to wait in a waiting room until your session begins.

- At no point does anyone, except for your counselor, have a right to ask you about the ‘issue’ you are seeing the counselor for. However, some set ups do have an initial assessment to fill out, which require some general details about you (address, contact details etc.) and a very broad description of your problem for which you are seeking counselling. You can choose how much you want to share at this point.

- A counselor’s space will be a private area (usually a room), which is secluded from the rest of the office space or is separate stand alone room altogether. This is to ensure your privacy, so that no one else can hear what you discuss with your counselor.

- Inside, you will usually find two chairs/couches facing each other, maybe a table with water, some tissues and writing material. 

- The counselor will take one of the chairs and guide you to the other.

- Depending on the type of therapist you are seeing, you may also find art material, toys, a sandbox, modeling clay, etc. These are some media used in therapy and your therapist will tell you what they are as the need arises.

- Once the session begins and depending on the set up, the counselor might usually close the door/lock the door so as not to be disturbed during the course of the session.

- If you are apprehensive about any of these factors, you must discuss it with your counselor.

What to expect when you meet your counsellor for the first time:

- the counsellor will usually introduce him/herself during the first session. 

 - if this is your first experience of counselling, the counsellor will explain to you how counselling works, confidentiality, the limits of confidentiality and the time format of your sessions. The counsellor will also lay out the fee for the sessions.

- the counsellor will invite you to share some details about yourself and may write this down on a piece of paper. The counsellor will do an assessment of your needs, i.e., try and understand your need for counselling/the problem you are facing. He/she might ask you a lot of questions about your family, history, etc. This is done to understand you/your situation better, so it is natural for you to hear the sound of your own voice a lot during the first session.

- You may ask the counsellor any questions you have about counselling, during your first session and anytime during your subsequent sessions as well.

- remember that the counselling space is 'your' space. You are free to talk about anything in the counselling space, including seeking clarification from the counsellor, voicing your concerns or expressing your thoughts and feelings.

* This is a very general description of what happens in counselling. The situation may vary depending on the counsellor you are seeing. Always remember that you have every right to discuss anything with your counsellor - including things which are making you uncomfortable or issues that are hindering the counselling process for you.