What To Expect
Taking the first step to seek out help is often the most difficult part of the therapeutic process. It is a courageous thing to admit that we might need help in sorting through relational or interpersonal challenges.
Our first session together, whether it is for an individual or couples therapy session, will be for me to understand why you are seeking help and to begin to get to know more about your life. The typical frequency for visits is every week in early stages of therapy process, but can transition to every other week.
For couples, our initial appointment together will be for me to get an idea of how each partner experiences the moments of disconnection or distress and to begin to familiarize myself with your interactional patterns. Most typically, after our initial appointment together, I will have at least one individual appointment with each partner. The purpose of these individual sessions is to get a more in-depth history of family and relational experiences. These individual appointments tend to be a very key part of the treatment process.
Within the EFT model of couples therapy, the early stage of therapy aims to help the couple not only identify their negative cycle, but to begin to experience each other in ways that helps them exit out of it. This helps de-escalate the distress and makes room for increased safety. While couples often feel some relief from crisis and begin to feel more connected at this stage, some of the most transformative work for partners happens during the next stage. The second stage of therapy is to begin working toward deeper aspects of healing for each partner that will deepen the intimacy and safety each partner feels. The final stage of therapy is to consolidate and solidify these changes and reinforce the more positive patterns of connection that have been developed.