What is the first interview in psychotherapy like?

These are the characteristics and objectives of the first interview in psychological therapy.

In the field of psychotherapy, the first interview is the first therapeutic contact between a person suffering from some kind of suffering or psychic discomfort and a psychology professional.

This is a crucial moment of great importance, and although it has many common elements in all its versions, there may be marked differences depending on the theory or school in which each therapist bases his or her practice.

In this article we will see how the first interviews in psychological therapy are developed and what can be expected from them.and what can be expected from them.

The first interviews in psychotherapy: its characteristics

In general, we can say that three elements are involved at this point: the person making the request, the cause of the request and the therapist.

The person making the request

Regarding the first element, the person making the request is someone suffering from some kind of psychic suffering or difficulty that in one way or another interferes with his or her life or causes him or her pain.

That person may have hesitated to make this decision, since it is not always easy to decide to ask for help from a professional, and in many cases this decision comes when the person is in pain. and in many occasions this decision comes when the person feels at the limit, causing urgent demands for help.This decision often comes when the person feels at the limit, causing demands with urgency and haste. In many occasions, haste can be an obstacle that slows down the active position that a person should have in front of his or her treatment.

Be that as it may, we are dealing with someone who is placing his hopes and expectations in the therapist to solve his problem, needing to feel welcomed and protected in that first meeting.

Reason for consultation

These reasons or ailments can be multiple, sometimes it is even possible that the person it is even possible that the person may ask for a third party in need..

We could make an extensive list of the reasons for which one comes to ask for psychological help, but let us say that the most common are those that have to do with problems or difficulties in relationships with others, partner, family or social, and especially those derived from the relationship we have with ourselves, that particular way we have of positioning ourselves before the world and that will mark our entire relational life.

The symptoms that usually appear range from personal dissatisfaction, doubts and contradictory feelings that oscillate between victimhood and guilt, feelings of impotence, anger, frustrationThe body, fears and a long list of emotions that will give rise to situations of anxiety, stress, apathy, depressive states, phobias, and in general ailments that will interfere in our psychological and physical well-being because there is no doubt that the body also suffers.

Therapist

And finally, we have the therapist, that person who welcomes the subject and his demand. How would the therapist act in these first interviews?

In this phase of therapy, the therapist works to create a climate of empathy and trust through warmth and closeness. He lets the patient know that this is his space, that it is a confidential place where he can speak and say whatever he wants to say without being evaluated or censored for it. or censored for it.

For this, it is necessary that the professional knows how to encourage the patient's participation and that he/she gets involved through the expression of his/her experiences, feelings and thoughts.

We can say that these first moments are for gathering information about the patient's problems, how he/she experiences them and his/her expectations with regard to the therapy, so that an attentive and differential listening is needed.Therefore, an attentive and differential listening is needed, since the same problem will not be experienced in the same way by each individual and expectations will not always be the same. It is necessary to listen not only to the problem itself, but also to the history and story that each person brings.

The therapist must also work on the patient's anguish as well as his or her own. As we have already pointed out, the patient may appear in a hurry to solve his problem quickly, and this may cause the therapist to try to give quick answers by making hasty and inadequate interventions because he does not yet have enough information. It is necessary at this time to draw on experience and, above all, professional ethics and above all professional ethics, which will guide not only what you do but also how you do it.

Key aspects of these sessions

The main characteristics of an initial characteristics of an initial interview in psychotherapy are:

• It establishes a starting point in the therapeutic relationship.
• It gathers a request for help to which it tries to understand and give an answer.
• It is a technique prior to diagnosis.
• It has a purpose.
• It is an interpersonal relationship with reciprocal influence between patient and therapist.

Objectives

As for the objectives of the first interviews in therapy, they are as followsare the following.

• To foster a warm atmosphere of empathy, trust and acceptance.
• To know how to listen, paying attention to both verbal and non-verbal communication.
• To contain the patient's distress.
• Stimulate the verbal expression of the person.
• Identify the problem.
• Establish objectives.
• Select intervention strategies.

Closing the interview

With all the information provided in this first meeting, we proceed to the closing of the session of this first interview.. This last phase is preceded by two previous phases: the initial phase, whose objective is to make the patient feel comfortable in front of the therapist, as well as willing to speak without inhibitions; and an intermediate or peak phase, in which most of the information is gathered, information is exchanged, problems are clarified and some decisions are made.

After these two phases comes the moment when the patient is warned that we are at the final stage of the interview, and is given the opportunity to communicate any issues that for one reason or another may have been omitted. Then a summary of the findings is made and together with the patient, the action plan is programmed.. Finally, the patient is formally dismissed.

Conclusion

As we can see, there are many reasons why a person may decide to ask for psychological help. That person comes for a symptom, but the psychotherapist listens to what the patient has to say beyond the problem itself, since that person comes with a history, a context, and habits with which he/she will relate his/her discomfort from that subjectivity that characterizes us and that makes us unique and unrepeatable beings; it is from there that we will have to listen.

At Iparehum we work from this position of listening.Our main objective is to help people to understand their discomfort and find ways out of it. Our main objective is focused on human relationships, in that encounter with others so fundamental for the human being and so complicated in many occasions. We offer psychological help and intervene in prevention and maintenance of individual, couple and family psychological health, as well as creating support groups for people who share the same problems. We also work with a wide network of collaborators to whom we refer you if necessary. If you have any questions, you can contact us through these contact details.