Frequently Asked Questions
This is a one-on-one talk therapy that helps people deal with a variety of emotional difficulties and mental illnesses. A professional helps you navigate through issues that you may be facing, with the goal of eliminating or controlling troubling symptoms, to lead a more fulfilling and satisfying life.
People can go to psychotherapy for a variety of reasons. You can decide to go to therapy to explore and get to know yourself more. You can also decide to go to therapy seeking the personal transformation and growth that often comes from talking about yourself freely in a safe space. If you feel like you’ve been experiencing feelings of sadness or excessive worry, then it’s good to seek the help of a professional who can help you navigate through that as well. Psychotherapy can also help you understand the repetitive patterns and dynamics that happen in your relationships with those around you, in order to have more equal and satisfying relationships.
These reasons are, of course, not the only reasons you should seek therapy. A member of our team can also help you make a decision as to what kind of help you may need.
In therapy, you are talking to a professional who is trained in helping you develop better cognitive and emotional skills. They can make a determination as to your diagnosis and whether you need medication or not. Therapists are professional listeners and they provide you with a safe, judgement-free space that is completely about you. With a friend, it is always about the two of you and a friend brings a lot of their own biases and opinions and even their feelings about you into the equation. While talking to your friends is important, and in fact necessary in order to lead a healthy life, it is very different than the type of help therapy provides you with.
A psychotherapist provides you with weekly therapy sessions in which you talk about your issues in a safe space. You and your therapist will set goals together that your sessions will be working towards. A psychotherapist is not a medical doctor. That is, they cannot prescribe you with medication or follow up on an existing prescription. This is where a psychiatrist comes in.
Your psychiatrist makes decisions as to whether you need medication or not, gives you a prescription, and follows up with you closely about everything related to the medication you are receiving. In order to make such decisions, your psychiatrist will of course talk to you about how you are feeling and what is going on in your life. However, these sessions will not be as, detailed, frequent, and goal oriented as your therapy sessions will be.
A psychotherapist and a psychiatrist work as a team to help you feel better if medication is needed. So you may go to therapy only, and not need medication. Or you may need weekly therapy sessions as well as occasional sessions with a psychiatrist at the same time if medication is needed. You and your therapist can make this decision together.
There is no single answer to this question because it depends on many factors, the most important of which is how you feel. Some people only need a couple of sessions for a very specific issue, others require more long-term intervention. Some people enjoy therapy and like to keep it as part of their lives. There is simply no right way to do it. This is something that you and your therapist can agree on together.
Individual psychotherapy sessions are typically 50 minutes long, once a week. This is different for psychiatric sessions that tend to be significantly shorter, and for couple therapy sessions which may last from 60 to 90 minutes depending on the therapist’s style. What you should be sure of is that your sessions should be consistent over time.
Successful therapy should ultimately lead to the symptoms that were troubling you decreasing, and to a feeling that you are accomplishing the goals you set with your therapist. Successful therapy should also lead to more self-awareness and productive self-exploration. This does not necessarily mean that you will come out of your sessions feeling relieved, even though this may sometimes be the case. Therapy may bring up some troubling thoughts or painful memories that can leave you feeling distressed on the short run. However, exploring these thoughts and feelings and processing your emotions with a trained professional should lead to you feeling better and growing on the long run.
Typically, you and your therapist will not be in communication between sessions. You may feel throughout the week that there are events happening in your life or feelings you are having that you would like to share with your therapist; and you will get the chance to do just that at your next session. These rules are set to protect you from becoming dependent on your therapist and to set healthy boundaries in your relationship with each other. If there is an emergency that requires your therapist’s immediate attention, please contact us and we will help you reach them.
It is not customary for you to be bringing people to your sessions regularly, but should you feel like you want to bring someone with you to your session, please feel free to bring that up with your therapist in session, and the two of you can discuss whether this is a good idea or not and how it can be done without exposing you to any kind of harm.
We offer reduced fees for those who are finding it financially stressful to pay for sessions. Please do not hesitate to call us and we can talk about how we can help you stay committed to therapy without it being a burden on you.
A visit to a psychiatrist will determine if you should be on medication. Your therapist will help you decide whether you need to schedule a session with a psychiatrist or not. You will never be forced into anything you feel uncomfortable with, and you can talk about your feelings regarding medication with your therapist and your psychiatrist openly.