What to expect in therapy

You probably won't lay on a couch

Many people who have never been in therapy before have ideas about what to expect.  These are often influenced by two images: classic Psychoanalytic treatment (ie: Freud) and television and movies. Images of people laying on couches, spilling their life story to a blank, detached therapist in a suit making notes or checking the time are common stereotypes.  Some people imagine their therapist listening to them and then saying one powerful thing, or asking just the right question that makes their whole life make sense.

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These ideas are either outdated, or Hollywood fantasy.  Most therapists today, including me, are very engaged with you and it usually feels like a conversation.  Most clients in therapy don't choose to lay on a couch (although a few do) and usually realization and change happen over time, after building a trusting and honest relationship with your therapist.  There are no magic cures, and you are just as responsible for your growth and healing as I am.

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My style of therapy is a combination of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (or CBT) and Psychodynamic Therapy.  The basic belief of CBT is that our mental health is directly connected to what we think and what we do.  CBT therapy is about learning how we make choices, how we talk to ourselves, how we are motivated to change, and how we set goals.  Thinking and acting differently can have a major impact on our happiness.

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Psychodynamic therapy works from the point of view that experiences we have as children, with our parents and family unit, as well as major positive or negative events we have experienced in the past still have an impact on our wellbeing.  Those experiences create expectations and messages that impact our thinking and doing, often without us realizing it. This kind of therapy asks us to put these experiences in proper perspective in our lives, to "re-learn" expectations that we have about ourselves and the world, and to create new patterns in our relationships.