Making the Most of Your Appointment

A lot of research has been made to know about depression and the therapies to treat it. The results of research indicate that the most efficient treatments for clinical depression are those that seek to educate us about the expertise rather than just try to unravel the causes of and reasons for depression.

The largely useful therapies are those that are problem-solving in nature which look to reducing the distress and educate us to help prevent recurrences.

As per international procedure, the therapies for treating depression should be time-bound in nature. The best arrangement for the treatment of depression is behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy.

People who undergo therapy often relate nice feelings about the therapist. The therapist uses his/her treatment skills to bring relief to the patient. The therapist’s techniques and experience will bring healing process to fruition. But when you are not happy with your therapist on a first visit, what should you do? What if you do not get convinced with the approach to treatment? What if you are unable to communicate properly with the therapist in the first session?

Understand a Therapist

Here are several words of advice for making most out of your first meeting with the therapist and learn how to really communicate with your therapist.

It's enticing to assume that your therapist is a ‘know-all’ person and that he/she has all the responses to all your predicaments and problems. You may tend to leave all decisions about treatment methodologies to the therapist. You may not even discuss your concerns about the likely fallout of the treatment with the therapist.

It helps to recognize that the therapist is also human being with all attendant flaws and weaknesses and deficiencies despite having best training in therapy. Therapy is an individualistic procedure, and the therapist can only give his or her own opinions, based on training and experience, which may not always right for you.

Organize Yourself

Think that you are a receiver of service which makes you a ‘consumer’ and so make sure you get the best service for the amount you spend. If something is not shaping out well, you talk about it with the therapist.

So, you draw out your action plan and write down whatever that occurs to you regarding the seeking of a therapist’s service and on what you should talk about and clarify things and situations with a therapist. You prepare a check-list of topics that you should discuss when you are on your first appointment with a therapist.

For instance, you may want to ask the therapist to know whether medicine is needed for depression. You may also want to know its side effects, risks in using it, the duration of usage etc. You may want to know the approach that the therapist takes and the goals for the therapy, what does the therapist expect of you like asking you to do certain assignments in between sessions. Obviously, you would like to know the duration of the therapy and the cost factor.

Be prepared with all the responses that the therapist may ask. Organize your thoughts and note down your concerns. You may want specific requests and questions to make. Now go through what all you have written and see whether it appears coherent and constructive. Now think about how you want to express your thoughts and your expectations to a therapist. Keep the tone moderate as it will help in starting a productive conversation with the therapist.

It is advisable to keep a log of your mood changes like the current symptoms, events that affect your mood, your sleep problems, and the type of medications that you used previously. Get the log notes to your first appointment to show it to your therapist.

Mention all your physical signs and symptoms. They may be relevant. Try and get information from friends and family members about any behavioral changes in you. They may observe certain symptoms that you missed.

Keep Your Feelings

Now is the time for your first appointment and discussion with your therapist. Try to remain calm and cool. Think that you and your therapist are like a team. You both should work in tandem to help you attain your personal goals.

You may feel disappointed during the first conversation. You may feel that enough attention is not being paid to your personal views and opinions. Or a convenient schedule is not worked out in your favor. You will gain nothing by being accusatory or blurt out your feelings outright. To keep the appointment pleasant and alive, you can change the tone of language to moderate level, yet be able to convey your feelings effectively. You may say that you are confused with a particular aspect of what the therapist said or suggested. You may also say that you see things in a different way.

You can also suggest an alternative which may actually complement the suggestion of therapist. The therapist may be right, but you are not quite sure about it. You sort of keep the door open for further conversation with the therapist.