Preparing For Your First Counselling Appointment

First sessions can be a bit different then many other sessions in counselling. In your first session, your therapist will go through what you can expect from therapy. This includes the risks and benefits associated with therapy as well as what you can expect from your therapist in terms of confidentiality. Your counsellor will also go through what you can expect in terms of record keeping, scheduling sessions, and answer any remaining questions you might have. Next, you and your therapist will work together to collect information which will help to assess what you want to work on and the impact of your current mental health on your life. You can expect to discuss what you are currently doing to cope as well.

Prior to your first counselling session, you will get an email welcoming you to Holistic Healing Counselling. This email includes some intake paperwork that helps provide your therapist with some information about you. It also includes paperwork that outlines expectations for therapy. Your therapist will go through this paperwork with you at your first session. 

To prepare for your first session, it can be useful to have an idea of how you want therapy to help you. Your therapist will walk you through most of the first session by asking questions designed to help them quickly get to know you and how things are currently going for you. Some people find it helpful to bring a notebook into their therapy sessions to write down insights they’ve gained or write down new coping strategies taught in session. If you’ve ever gone to a therapist before, taking time to reflect on what helped in those sessions and even what didn’t help is great information to take with you to your first session. Most importantly remember that your therapist has done many first sessions and you can feel comfortable relying on them to walk you through the process and work towards your goals.

Holistic Healing Counselling offers both in-person sessions at our Edmonton office and online sessions. Client’s have the option to choose online appointments or in-person appointments depending on their schedule that day. If you want to switch between online or in-person on your different appointment days, you have that flexibility. If you have selected an online session, your booking will say the word online. In this case you will get an email from us about 15 minutes prior to your appointment start time with a link to join the session online. If you are accessing your appointment from a computer or laptop, you just simply need to click the link to join the session. Your therapist will join the online session at your appointment start time. If you are accessing the online session from a tablet or phone, you first need to download an app. When you click on the link, your device will prompt you to download JaneApp. From there, when you click the ‘join your session online’ button, your device will automatically open the app for you to join the session.

For in-person sessions, our clinic is located at 14020 128 Ave NW Unit 101, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There is free parking in the parking lot. Holistic Healing Counselling is located within the UMC building. When you arrive at the clinic, you will enter through our main door and our office is straight ahead. You will wait in our office lobby and when your therapist is ready for you they will come out to the waiting room and bring you into the therapy room. For a visual of what to expect please watch this video.