Step 1: Consultation email/call

After you reach out, someone from our team will contact you to verify your insurance and confirm your appointment. Some clients request to set up a 10-15 minute consultation call. This is a brief screening to discuss concerns, and to make sure that your needs can be met at our practice. Occasionally, we refer clients to other providers who may be better fit for their unique concerns.

Step 2: Intake Session

This is structured like a typical 60 minute therapy session. Our providers always start off by explaining how therapy works and how we measure progress moving forward. These sessions are also the opportunity for us to become better acquainted and see if there is a good fit between therapist and client. This is a very important step. Each client needs to feel comfortable with their therapist and the intake session is a good opportunity for you to “interview” your therapist to see if they are right for you. This session may not feel very therapeutic, as the main purpose is to gather a lot of information about you.

Step 3: Setting Up Weekly Appointments

Therapy works best when sessions are consistent, and once a week is the most appropriate frequency. Occasionally, we may recommend meeting twice a week. Less than once a week has been shown to not be an effective way to build rapport and make treatment progress. Once weekly sessions are established, treatment planning and therapeutic goals are identified. This helps us keep track of progress.

Step 4: Ongoing Treatment

The most common question asked during the screening call is, “How long does therapy typically last?” This is a fair, understandable, and difficult question to answer. Each person is different so their length of treatment will differ as well. The best answer that we can provide is that both parties should have a good feeling about how things are going after eight sessions. At this point everyone should be well acquainted and we should be well on our way toward our treatment goals. While it is likely that more time is necessary, you should be feeling different and clearly on the path toward the long-term goals.

Step 5: Completion of Primary Treatment Goals and Maintenance

At this point in therapy the primary treatment goals have been met and there will be significant and substantive emotional and behavioral improvement. While you may be in a place where you would not initiate therapy, there may be some secondary goals that you would like to work on and this is the stage in treatment where this occurs. Others feel relatively content and wish to stay in treatment in a Maintenance Stage. During this stage core therapeutic concepts are reinforced and some people appreciate the weekly support and opportunity for reflection and introspection.

Step 6: Concluding Therapy

This can take place at the end of the maintenance stage or after the completion of the primary treatment goals. A good sign that we have reached this point is that there isn’t much to talk about each week since we have tackled all the big problems. Some people will opt to wind down therapy by switching to biweekly or monthly appointments. Regardless, the end of regular appointments is not the end of a relationship. It takes a lot of emotion and effort to participate in therapy and the alliance formed between therapist and client is not artificial but genuine and significant. Every client is welcome to stay in touch and come back for a refresher session or to reengage in treatment if necessary.