At the Randburg Psychology Practice our Clinical Psychologists offers face-to-face profession counselling with results! They are qualified, registered with Masters Degrees and have personally guided many people of over the years to take better decisions and to find solutions for many problems.
Our affordable professional counselling creates solutions for personal growth. We believe that you have the power to change how you feel today. We do not believe that counselling have to be unpleasant “tears-and tissues” experience, we rather provide a renewed outlook to make sense of your thinking.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR PSYCHOLOGIST?
So you are thinking about seeing a psychologist, but are unsure of what to expect. Naturally this is a question most people contemplate when the need for counselling or psychotherapy arises for the first time. Most of what we know about psychologists comes from either the media or friends and family that may have been to a see a psychologist.
In most cases you may bring many expectations to the therapy process even before you have seen a psychologist. You may feel excited, anxious and many other feelings as you try to find an appropriate and fully qualified psychologist for yourself. There are some key guidelines one should follow particularly if this will be your first time in a psychologists consulting room. The following guidelines are just that, a guide and at the end of the day, the best predictor of success in any form of counselling or therapy is the quality of relationship you develop with your psychologist.
Your psychologist should be open and honest regarding the process of therapy and how their brand of therapy works. This of course will differ from therapist to therapist. You should expect some information and relative transparency regarding the course of therapy, particularly around times, the therapist’s cancellation policy, fees and issues related to confidentiality and privacy.
Expect to have your queries, concerns and anxieties concerning therapy taken seriously by your therapist. Any psychologist who does not takes these concerns seriously should be avoided.
Expect that it will take some time before it feels like your psychologist has made some difference in terms of the problem you came into therapy with. The message is clear here. Therapy is not a quick fix and therefore one has to be able to be patient before you can see some kind of result. If you are coming to see a psychologist you can expect that if you have had a problem for some times (i.e. a few years), it will not be solved within a few sessions. If you expect to address issues you have had for six years in six sessions (6 hours), you will be disappointed.
Expect that you will have some ups and downs in therapy. There will be times where you will feel that you really don’t want to attend your therapy and other times when you will feels as if you are getting a lot out of the process. Bear with it as long as you can and don’t be afraid to be open regarding your feeling about the process. One of the biggest reasons that stalemates developing within the therapeutic relationship is the failure on the part of the client to openly discuss their negative feelings about their therapist.
Expect to see some improvement after a reasonable amount of time. If things do not seem better, discuss this with your therapist more fully. It may be time to try a new therapist or look at your current motivation for making changes in your life. Failure to see results usually stems from the way both the therapist and client are working together in therapy. In short when you see little or no improvement, the first focus should be on the nature of the therapeutic relationship between yourself and your therapist.
Expect your psychologist to foster a collaborative approach in the counselling setting. Psychotherapy works best when both parties actively contribute to the counselling process. Therefore expect that your psychologist will allow you the freedom to negotiate the agenda for therapy in a joint and mutually satisfactory manner.
By Kevin Naidu
|