First Contact- the therapeutic relationship starts when someone first contacts me by phone or sometimes by email. If I am unavailable when someone contacts me I will get back to them within the same day, usually within a few hours. My goal is to talk to the person on the phone so I can get them to summarize what the presenting problems are and why they decided to seek help at the time. If their presenting problems are something that I can assist them with then I will schedule an appointment for them to come in. If their presenting problem is something that falls outside of the scope of my practice, I will try to refer them to another professional that may be able to help.
At some point in the phone conversation I will explain to them my process of conducting an evaluation with all new clients that I see whether they are individuals, couples or families. The evaluation is approximately 3-5 sessions depending on the nature of the problems and how many people are present. During the evaluation, I gather info about the nature and history of the problem. I also be ask questions about family history and previous therapy experiences. At the end of the evaluation, I then give my thoughts as to what I believe is going on and what direction I believe would be most helpful. The evaluation also gives the client(s) a chance to get some idea of who I am and, if we decide to continue, whether they would be comfortable working with me.
The evaluation that I conduct is no different than an evaluation a medical doctor would perform. If someone consulted a doctor for pain in their lower back, the doctor would want to first run a series of tests in order to find out exactly what the problem was before treating it. The evaluation gives me a chance to learn about the nature and causes of the underlying problems rather than using conjecture and running the risk of misdiagnosis.
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