10. First time with a psychologist? — What to expect
Most people are pretty nervous the first time they see a psychologist, so hopefully reading this can help to make you feel more prepared and in control by describing what to expect and how to prepare.
What to expect:
· In the first 1–2 sessions the psychologist will ask you lots of different questions to understand who you are, what you’re dealing with, and to create a plan for your treatment;
· Sessions take a ‘therapists hour’, which is 50 minutes long — they use the remaining 10 minutes of the hour to review the session, record notes, and prepare reports;
· Therapy with a clinical psychologist in Australia costs between $160 to $250 per session (this is where a Mental Health Care Plan can help);
· If you are seeing a psychologist on a Mental Health Care Plan through your GP, then Medicare will pay some of your session costs up to a limited number of sessions per calendar year;
· Therapy may not be comfortable or easy, but you should expect to feel cared for, understood, heard/listened to, and become an active participant in your treatment. Speak up if you are unhappy or uncomfortable with anything — your psychologist can handle the truth!
· If you’ve seen a psychologist before, think about what you liked about them and what you didn’t. What worked for you and what was less helpful?
· In the end, you need to have a good relationship with your psychologist and this isn’t always easy to find, so if they’re not right for you then you may want to consider trying someone else.
How to prepare for therapy:
· There will probably be a wait-time to get your first session. You may want to call/email them first to find out their wait time and availability e.g., if they see clients on the weekends or evenings.
· You might want to track your mood or record your symptoms in a journal to show on your first session (this could help the psychologist understand what you’ve been dealing with). An example of an online mood chart can be found here: http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/19-dailymoodchart.pdf?sfvrsn=14
· Think about what you want to get out of therapy and what your expectations are (e.g., to know yourself better, to learn healthy coping strategies, to understand your struggles and how you got to where you are, to have more effective relationships, etc).
· Most of your change and healing will happen out of the session. You are with the psychologist for 1-hour every one or two weeks. The remaining 167-hours in the week are yours to work with. If you plan to commit a time each day to practice what you discuss in therapy you will get so much more out of it!
