The first therapy session is anxiety provoking for many people for obvious reasons and it sometimes stops them from honouring their first session.

How can you beat this anxiety?

A short thread

1.Get yourself ready

Therapy only works on people who are ready for it and people who are ready to embrace what comes out of it. Ready yourself with an open minded approach and put away your defences.

Call your therapist

Its possible to call your psychologist & ask questions about things that make you feel anxious. Ask about what you can expect in therapy with them. The call will help you get a feel of the kind of person your therapist is & that should put you at ease.

3. Be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable

Therapy is about unearthing uncomfortable things that bother you, so it will never be comfortable to do so. Therapy is about sharing your deepest darkest secrets with a stranger, and that is a very uncomfortable experience.

......BUT…. Take comfort in the fact that psychology professionals are bound by the HPCSA code of ethics to maintain confidentiality/secrecy about your information unless you pose a threat to yourself or to someone else.

4. Know that anytime is therapy time

You don’t only have to go therapy for big/bad news only. You can go to therapy even for good news, progressive news or even for small crises.....

.....Of course you don’t have to be dependent but don’t feel anxious about going to therapy if you don’t have big or bad news to share.

5. Know that you can disagree with your therapist

Therapy should feel like a safe, comfortable space where you can say anything.....

.....Not only does this help you practice if you struggle with conflict avoidance or asserting yourself, but it also allows your therapist to tailor treatment to what will work best for you. So speak up where you’re confused or emotional.

6. Speak about your anxiety

Most of the time, acknowledging your anxiety can provide a sense of relief. Speaking about your anxiety in your fist therapy session will help your therapist to pay special attention to it and you will get a thorough chance to adequately address it.

Lastly

I am aware that therapy is a major step to take for anyone, but it is not a bad one at that. Maintain an open mind and expect a unique experience from anyone else because we treat our clients as unique individuals.

Happy therapy