First time seeing a counsellor?
Can someone tell me what to expect the first time seeing a counsellor? I'm rather nervous! My teacher's making me go, but she said she will come with me.
Comments
Hey tayla,
Great to see that your teacher is so supportive!
Going to see a counsellor can be really nerve-wrecking, but I think most people end up realizing that it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be!
The counsellor will be totally used to people being nervous about coming to see them so they'll try to put you at ease as much as possible.
The first appointment will really be a "get-to-know-you" appointment so there will probably be a lot of questions from the counsellor to you - things like who you live with, what you like doing in your spare time, who your best friends are, what you like about school. And they'll also want to know why you came to see them.
You don't need to answer anything you don't feel comfortable with - feel free to tell them that you don't want to talk about that at the moment and they should respect that. And if you want to ask questions you totally can. 🙂
It can take a while for you to feel comfortable with someone new and you won't necessarily like the first counsellor you see but give it a try and keep giving it a try (if you can!) and you should start feeling more comfortable as time goes on.
Good luck!
Let us know how it goes!
Hey Tayla,
Go in as calm as you can and ready to tell the truth. This is a difficult thing to do often because we don't know the person and therefore don't trust them but try look at it from a different perspective if this is the case. You don't know this person so if you are worried about being judged or what you say impacting you in your life outside of the counsellors office you won't need to worry about it because you often won't see this person outside of their professional setting and they do not spend any time with your social groups so they will not find out.
Sometimes consoling in a stranger is the best thing to do, look at this forum for example. You have never met anyone here and yet they are prepared to help and they cannot impact your life in any way outside of this website unless you chose for them to do so.
When I went to my school counsellor I lied in order to get out of there as soon as possible and as a result my problems went unmanaged and developed into a fully destructive mental illness which has plagued me for over two years and still gives me issues to this day.
I hope this gives gives you some of the answers you are after.
I do believe you are strong enough to do the hard yards in your counselling if you are preparing yourself for it here.
BennyC
The others have pretty much said it all. I was so anxious about seeing mine for the first time and I still get like that if I know a session is coming up and I've had a horrible time.
For my first one I had a questionaire to fill out asking me what sort of things I want to discuss and how I was feeling that day etc. They also asked if there was anything important they needed to know to form a picture.
You don't need to worry about talking or opening up, they will ask you the questions and lead the conversation. It's up to you how honest you want to be.
It's completely understandable that you're nervous, I was nervous too the first time I ever saw a counsellor. It's good that your teacher is going to come with you as support though.
Here's an article on counsellors which may be helpful: http://au.reachout.com/~/~/link.aspx?_id=3B141F12E76043DC862490F0926FA08B&_z=z
Usually the first session will just be getting to know what issues you're dealing with at the moment. From there he or she may suggest ways that she may be able to work with you and let you decide whether you're okay with that or not.
Hope the appointment goes okay, and let us know how things go.
Take care.
It's great that your teacher is looking out for you, even better that she has offered to go with you!
Going to see a counsellor can be quite daunting! It can be scary and we can get very nervous and wound up before hand.
Try not to worry about it as much, I've found that the more relaxed I am when I go in the better.
When I first went to my school counsellor I was nervous and scared, but I was also feeling ashamed and guilty. I went in feeling rather wound up and scarred, I said nothing the whole time and refused to speak, and walked out feeling pretty much the same.
Over the last few months I've learned that to get the most out of seeing the school counsellor I had to remain calm, it's taken me ages, many sessions, being vugue or giving her the silent treatment, many tears and many "I don't know's" to finally put full trust in her and really open up! (I must say though I had her as an English teacher twice before she moved to the position of school counsellor)
During this time I have learnt that sh really was there to help, she listened she gave her view, she helped me see that while this is happening right now, there has been good times and there will be good times to come. One of my favourites thigns she says "Sometimes, life just sucks..."
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I hope this has helped you a bit, and if any made you feel a little less nervous about it. Remember that even if you close off and don't want to talk it's okay, the fact is that you tried! I hope it goes well and let us know how things go. 🙂
From experience they usually just want to know what brings you there and if there is any background information that may help them form a picture of where you are at in your life and what is affecting you. The first visit is usually just them wanting to get to know you and to begin to form a picture. It's normal to feel nervous or unsure but you will be fine, their job is to help 🙂 It's nice that your teacher is going with you and is supporting you.
