What to Expect
What happens when you first see a psychologist?
The first several appointments are dedicated to getting an understanding of your concerns and their impact on your relationships, work, and other important parts of your life. We will review relevant details of your personal history, including developmental milestones, education, and significant relationships in your life. This information-gathering phase can take one or more sessions and may be supplemented by asking you to complete a number of questionnaires. These are psychological tests; some may be symptom inventories or tests of interpersonal functioning that help identifying areas of concern as well as personal strengths you can draw on to in our efforts to address the challenges you may be facing.
Treatment
Once we have completed the initial intake phase, we will work together to identify specific goals and objectives aimed at helping you move forward. These can include feeling less depressed, feeling more comfortable in social situations, adjusting to life changes, managing illness, changing certain behaviours, improving relationships, or increasing self-esteem. Over the course of treatment, we will take time to assess how things are progressing. At those times, you may be asked to fill out some questionnaires that are to us monitor your response to treatment. If you feel things are not progressing as you had expected, it’s important that you make that known.
Progress can be stalled for a number of reasons:
- it may be because we are focusing on aspects of your experience that are especially challenging.
- for some people change can feel threatening or too risky.
- perhaps you are quite willing and committed to making change but you’re finding that change is contributing to unexpected tension in some relationships.
- it may be because you feel that there is something I am missing or not understanding and if that’s the case, it’s important to bring that up in session.
My Approach to Treatment
The first several appointments are dedicated to getting an understanding of your concerns and their impact on your relationships, work, and other important parts of your life. We will review relevant details of your personal history, including developmental milestones, education, and significant relationships in your life. This information-gathering phase can take one or more sessions and may be supplemented by asking you to complete a number of questionnaires. These are psychological tests; some may be symptom inventories or tests of interpersonal functioning that help identifying areas of concern as well as personal strengths you can draw on to in our efforts to address the challenges you may be facing.
Personal Information and Health Records
The first several appointments are dedicated to getting an understanding of your concerns and their impact on your relationships, work, and other important parts of your life. We will review relevant details of your personal history, including developmental milestones, education, and significant relationships in your life. This information-gathering phase can take one or more sessions and may be supplemented by asking you to complete a number of questionnaires. These are psychological tests; some may be symptom inventories or tests of interpersonal functioning that help identifying areas of concern as well as personal strengths you can draw on to in our efforts to address the challenges you may be facing.