Your child’s first therapy session

(aka “Intake Assessment”)

Your first therapy session will comprise of an initial assessment by your psychologist. We call this an Intake Assessment or simply, Intake.

Intake is a session for your psychologist to understand you as a person and discuss the issues that have brought you to therapy. It is important that this takes place in a safe, private, and non-judgemental space. You may be asked to complete a form with your basic personal information prior to Intake.

Through guided conversation, your psychologist will begin to develop an understanding of your concerns and other underlying factors, and explore relevant background or history; for example, information about your family, social relationships, work history or any past counselling that you have done. With the gathered information, your psychologist will work with you to craft a collaborative and flexible plan for future therapy sessions. You may wish to bring a notepad to record these and other useful discussions that occur during your session.

Intake sessions typically run for 90 minutes. If the concerns or the issues you face are complex, your psychologist may request that you extend your Intake session or return on another day.

Continuing Therapy

(“psychotherapy” -
works best if you follow through!)

Therapy will be different for everyone.

During Intake and through the course of therapy, your psychologist and you will jointly formulate and refine your management plan based on the information you provide.

It is therefore important that you share information that you feel may be relevant to your concerns. This is because therapy is a collaborative effort based on the relationship between your needs as an individual and your psychologist. We call this the Therapeutic Alliance. Grounded in dialogue, psychotherapy is at its most effective when you participate fully in your sessions. Your psychologist will provide a supportive environment for you to share thorny or difficult issues with someone who’s objective, neutral and non-judgemental. You and your psychologist will work together as a team to identify and change the thought and behaviour patterns that are keeping you from feeling your best.

You can be completely honest with your psychologist without concern that anyone else will know what you revealed.

The therapeutic relationship is a confidential one (subject to a few legal exceptions: for example, if you threaten to harm yourself or someone else, or by court order). At your request, information we collect about you can be shared with other medical or mental health professionals.

By the end of the management plan, you may have learned new skills to better cope not only with the problem that brought you in, but with whatever challenges that may arise in the future.

Therapy sessions typically run for 60 minutes. During session, your psychologist may perform necessary tasks such as schedule your follow-up consultations, discuss or vary your management plan, or seek or communicate important information with persons you authorise us to do so.

It is very important that you do not feel that these tasks are a “waste of consultation time”, as they enable us to provide you with an effective psychological service.

So how many sessions does it take for me to feel better?

This is a difficult question to answer. But we tell you some of the factors that affect the number of sessions required. Typically, this depends on

Ψ the complexity of issues
Ψ how long you wait before seeking help
Ψ how frequent you turn up for session
Ψ whether you “complete your homework”

By way of example (and only as a guideline), persons who present with straightforward depression or anxiety typically take at least 10 to 15 sessions before they feel well enough to request for discharge. More complex issues such as Personality Disorders may take years.