What should I expect from my first counselling session?

If you have never seen a counsellor or therapist before, don't be discouraged. In fact, it can take a great degree of courage to even make a phone call to a counsellor, let alone walk in the door for your first session.

I usually ask a few basic questions to my clients in the first session and allow the majority of the time to hear what clients want to tell me. My intention is to get an idea of how I can help you explore the challenges you are facing and help you to feel comfortable speaking about personal issues. I welcome questions from my clients at any point in the counselling process and always respect an individual's choice to decide how much information they care to share with me.

My approach is to work collaboratively and holistically, taking into account each individual's strengths and resources along with their goals and intentions for change or healing. Rather than providing straight advice, I prefer to empower clients to find appropriate responses and solutions that fit for them. The duration of counselling is decided by the client; the option to begin and end counselling is available at anytime. In my practice I have seen clients for as little as 3 sessions, and as long as several years.