I can’t change you into anybody or thing you don’t want to change into. You are completely in charge of our therapy if you hire me, as an expert to consult in your life experiences. I often compare myself to an architect, I have a lot of good ideas on how and where to build your house but in the end, you build it, live in it and pay for it. I work hard and care deeply for my clients’ wellbeing, but I cannot do their job. Therapy lasts for an hour, the rest of therapy happens outside of session, where you will make changes and do your own work as you see fit. I have been a counselor in Florida since 1999, and most of the feed back I receive from clients and colleagues revolves around my personal strength of clarity and I have been called a “straight shooter”. To be clear, I am NOT Dr. Phil in style, but I am clear, and to the point.
When we first meet, I expect you to be interviewing me to see if I am a fit for you. Some clients do this more formally with a list of questions and others evaluate their comfort levels with me. If by the end of the first session you have any thoughts that basically are, “this lady can’t help me” I would hope that at the very least, I could be of help finding you a better therapeutic match. I will be assessing more about the dynamics of your situation and making sure I have complete clarity on what you need help with. I usually take notes during our first session, as a memorization tool. Typically, by the end of our first session we will begin to draw out a treatment plan together with therapeutic goals. Occasionally in the second session we may still be working this out.
