What to expect

For your first session our main priority is to make you feel comfortable, heard, understood, connected, trusting, cared for and cared about. We want you to leave here feeling hopeful and knowing that you matter in this world. So during our first session together we have a list of things that we want to ask you. We want to understand where you are coming from and what has been going on in your life. Together with you, we will be looking for possible causes to your problem, ways to address your concerns and opportunities to make you feel better. This means that your therapist will ask you lots of questions, but you can decide which questions you want to answer. We understand that we have to earn your trust and we respect your boundaries. So the first session is also used to discuss the terms of our partnership and what our rights and responsibilities are. We want to make sure we are on the same page about what you expect from treatment and what your goals for treatment are. For example, you have a right to privacy and everything we discuss is confidential with certain excemptions which will be explained to you as well.

Depending on the difficulties we use sessions 2-4 to stabilise your mental health and to further explore your difficulties. You will have the opportunity to talk about what is going on for you and at your own pace, we will explore your thoughts and feelings around what is going on. Your therapist will also give you as much information as they can about your specific mental health challenges, how this can be impacting on your life and what are some of the important things to be aware off. Together we explore achievable oppportunities for improving your life. We will look at your health, hobbies, social relations, daily activities and anything else that you feel you can relatively easily address to help you to feel better. This may seem like a big jump right now, because of course you know what is good for you but you haven't been able to make the changes before. We understand this completely! Know that we will be there with you, every step of the way, breaking any steps down into even smaller steps, so it won't be too overwhelming for you. Your therapist will also use lots of different questionnaires to inform their assessment. These ask you about things like: your mood, your symptoms, your experience as a child, your experiences with possible trauma, your level of dissociation etc.
After the first 3-4 sessions we should have a good understanding of your situation and will propose our treatment plan to you. With EMDR therapy there are 8-phases to follow, to ensure the best results the safest way! Depending on your individual needs therapy can take up anywhere between 3 months and a couple years! 

After session 6 we will review together to see how much progress has been made and if we both feel that we are OK to continue. It is important we both feel that we are a good match if we want to work together. If your sessions are funded by Medicare, you will need to go back to the GP to ask for a continuing referral. We will keep your doctor updated on your progress and your need for further treatment. You have a right to 10 sessions per calendar year. Of course, you can have as many sessions as you want at the full fee. What ever we need to do, to help you to feel better and in control of your life!