5 tips for your first sessions as a psychotherapist

Several tips to face the challenge of offering your first sessions in a professional manner.

One of the most difficult moments in the professional career of psychotherapists, whether in clinical or health care settings, is the completion of the EPS (Supervised Professional Practice).

With this in mind, you may be interested in the following tips for your first session as a psychotherapist. tips for your first session as a psychotherapist.. Help to alleviate the nerves of the first sessions with your patients or clients.

Tips for your first sessions as a psychotherapist.

Follow these guidelines to get through this process as productively as possible.

1. Nerves are not your enemy

Every first step is scary, and and the first encounter with a patient or client calls into question everything you have learned. during the 4 or 5 years of undergraduate studies. It's okay, nerves are natural and will be present to a greater or lesser degree regardless of the passage of time and all the experience you accumulate. This is normal, since you don't know what kind of individual will be sitting in front of you and what their life history is.

You must remember that, despite the nerves, if you are offering your help at a professional level it is for a reason: you got there because your skills have made it possible.

2. Have all the necessary paperwork at hand.

This is an extremely important part, because having all the paperwork that will help you gather the patient's information is key to provide the right service. is key to be able to provide the right service. This includes:

Commitment sheet

Having a commitment sheet is relevant within the professional practice, especially if you are in your supervised professional practice (EPS), since you still do not have the official titles and active membership. This commitment will be the endorsement in which the patient or client gives his/her consent to begin the data collection stage (anamnesis), evaluation and (anamnesis), evaluation and of course the treatment.

Important fact: you must have a sheet for adults and one for children and adolescents to be signed by the parents.

Clinical records

This document is like the "letter of introduction" of your patient/client, it gathers: the general data, the reason for the consultation, the date of the beginning of the therapy If you feel the need, you can include: when the problem started, if there is any stimulus or stressor that is aggravating the situation or symptoms.

Clinical histories

A key type of document key to be able to make a good diagnosis and along with it, a good treatment. This document compiles all the patient's/client's life information, that includes:

• General information (name, surname, age, sex, etc).
• Reason for consultation.
• Onset and factors that aggravate symptoms and signs.
• Brief history of the problem (important to find out all the details).
• Family history.
• Prenatal, perinatal and postnatal history.
• History of adolescence.
• Adulthood data.
• Medical history and family history related to emotional problems or mental disorders.
• Etc.

Collecting all of the above information takes time. As a tip, try not to rush in the collection of this data, sometimes patients/clients in their first session cry half of it and complain about the rest, so you must take notes of everything that you can take "in the air".. If necessary, ask direct questions.

Mental Examination

This document is also key to a good diagnosis. In it you will write down or cross out everything related to the signs of the patient or client, for example: his appearance (looks unkempt, unkempt, has scars), his perception (has hallucinations, illusions, etc.), his thoughts (has delusions, ideas of reference, flight of ideas, etc.). You must have it at hand from the moment you see him/her arrive at the office or see him/her in the waiting room..

Evolution sheets

If you want to be a good therapist you must keep a record of all the progress of your patients or clients, from the first session to the last.from the first session to the last. In the evolution sheets you will write down the changes that occur during the sessions, for example: "SESSION #7: Juanita presents a reduction of depressive symptoms, she has done her homework at home and enjoys more the activities with her family".

Appointment control

For the sake of order and good management of your patients, you can keep track of appointments physically or digitally (for example, with an App). This way you will know which appointments were missed and which were not, if they have done their pending homework, if you have to cancel them...

Field diary

This will be essential if you are a practitioner. Even so, I also suggest it to all practitioners, keep notes of everything you do in the sessions with each patient/client, it could be key to discover if the treatment is being effective or if you have made a mistake in the realization of any technique.

Therapeutic Plan

One thing that makes the patient feel very secure is to have everything ready, to notice that you are waiting for them with a whole assortment of activities that they will do in the short 45 or 60 minutes of the session. This will not only give a good image of you, but also the patient will have very significant progress, especially if they are coming to you for brief therapy.

Data bank

This is at the discretion of the practitioner or professional. Keeping a data bank of all the clients you have seen during the year will help you to know how you have been doing. will help you to know how you have done and whether you need to improve your marketing plan..

Extras: teacher interviews and referral sheets

Sometimes children come to the office referred by the school. For your personal control,** it is very useful to ask the teacher to provide information** or any person who is referring the patient/client to your office.

3. The evaluation and the first stumbling blocks

Something key and very supportive in the therapy process is undoubtedly the evaluation. It is important that you know and assemble your own "standard" psychological test batteries.. It is not necessary that you are a "machine" and know by Heart and to the letter the instructions of all the tests. That is why I suggest that you choose 2 to 4 basic tests.

Choose those psychological tests that you have mastered and that can provide auxiliary information for the diagnosis of your patient. In some cases personality tests are also very useful, so I invite you to investigate further which tests are best suited to the population you will be treating.

4. Ethics

As professionals or future professionals, we must follow the rules proposed by our code of ethics..

People who come to the consultation, are just that... people, who are requesting not only help but a professional service. That is why it is good to take care of some details such as clothing, filling out the corresponding paperwork mentioned above, evaluating and delivering results and finally the diagnosis.

It is also important to take into account the therapeutic approach you will use: the one based on more scientific evidence is the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, although there are different interventions proposed for each of the psychological problems.

5. Empathy

I believe that this is the key for the client to make significant progress. Establishing a good therapeutic relationship, always within a frame of reference, is fundamental. The problem is that at the beginning there is a severe emotional burden, as patients come to unburden themselves and resolve their conflicts, and many times this emotional burden begins to affect our private life. It is necessary that the therapeutic relationship be a combination of empathy and professionalism.

Never forget...

Finally, always remember that it is not only important to use techniques.

In my experience, I have met practitioners and professionals who consider the techniques as the center of the therapy, I must admit that it is partly true that they are very important, but do not forget that you are dealing with a person. Keep empathy and compassion always within the framework of therapy.