What is the First Interview in Psychotherapy Like?

In the field of psychotherapy, the first interview is the first therapeutic contact between a person suffering from some type of suffering or psychological discomfort and a psychology professional.

This is a crucial and very important moment, which although it has many common elements in all its versions, there may be marked differences depending on the theory or school on which each therapist bases their praxis.

In this article We will see how the first interviews in psychological therapy develop and what can be expected from them.

The first interviews in psychotherapy: their characteristics

In general, we can say that at this moment three elements appear at play: the person making the demand, the cause of the demand and the therapist.

Person who consults

With respect to the first element, the person making the claim is someone suffering from some type of mental illness or difficulty that in one way or another interferes with their life or causes pain.

That person may have hesitated to make this decision, since it is not always easy to decide to seek help from a professional, and On many occasions this decision comes when the person feels at the limit, causing demands with urgency and haste. On many occasions, rush can be an obstacle that stops the active position that a person must have regarding their treatment.

Be that as it may, we find someone who is placing their hopes and expectations in the therapist to solve their problem, needing to feel welcomed and protected in that first meeting.

Reason for consultation

These reasons or conditions can be multiple, sometimes It is even possible for the person to sue for a third party in need

We could make an extensive list of the reasons why people go to ask for psychological help, but let’s say that the most common are those that have to do with problems or difficulties in relationships with others, a partner, family or social, and above all those derived from that relationship that we maintain with ourselves, that particular way that we have of positioning ourselves before the world and that will mark our entire relational life.

The symptoms that usually appear range from personal dissatisfaction, doubts and contradictory feelings that oscillate between victimhood and guilt, feeling of helplessness, anger, frustration fears and a long list of emotions that will give rise to situations of anxiety, stress, apathy, depressive states, phobias, and in general ailments that will interfere with our mental and physical well-being because there is no doubt that the body too he resents.

Therapist

And finally, we have the therapist, that person who welcomes the subject and their demand. What would his performance be like in those first interviews?

In this phase of therapy, the therapist works to create a climate of empathy and trust through warmth and closeness. Lets the patient know that this is their space, that it is a confidential place where they can speak and say whatever they want to say without being evaluated nor censured for it.

To do this, it is necessary for the professional to know how to encourage the patient’s participation and for them to get involved through the expression of their experiences, feelings and thoughts.

We can say that These first moments are for collecting information about the client’s problems, how they experience it and their expectations regarding the therapy, so attentive and differential listening is needed, since the same problem will not be experienced in the same way by each individual nor will the expectations always be the same. You have to listen not only to the problem itself, but also to the story and story that each person brings.

The therapist must also work on both the patient’s anxiety and his own. As we have already pointed out previously, the patient may appear in a hurry to want to solve his problem quickly, and this can cause the therapist to attempt to give quick answers by making hasty and inappropriate interventions because he does not yet have enough information. It is necessary at this time to draw on experience and above all, professional ethics, which will guide not only what you do but also how you do it.

Key aspects of these sessions

The main characteristics of an initial interview in psychotherapy are:

Goals

Regarding the objectives of the first interviews in therapy are the following.

Closing of the interview

With all the information provided in that first meeting, the session of that first interview is closed This last phase is preceded by two previous phases: the beginning phase, whose objective focuses on the patient feeling comfortable with the therapist, as well as willing to speak without inhibitions; and an intermediate or peak phase, in which most of the information is collected, information is exchanged, problems are clarified and some decisions are made.

After these two phases comes the moment in which the patient is notified that we are at the final moment of the interview, and he is given the opportunity to communicate any question that for one reason or another he may have omitted. Next A summary is made of the findings found and together with the patient, the action plan is programmed Finally, we proceed to the formal farewell.

Conclusion

As we see, there are many reasons why a person may decide to ask for psychological help. That person comes for a symptom, but the psychotherapist listens to what the patient has to say beyond the problem itself, since that person comes with a history, a context, and some habits with which he or she will relate his or her discomfort from that point. subjectivity that characterizes us and that makes us unique and unrepeatable beings; It is from there that we will have to listen.

At Iparehum we work from that position of listening, in order to help people understand their discomfort and find ways out of it. We have our main objective in human relationships, in that encounter with others so fundamental for human beings and so complicated on many occasions. We offer psychological help and intervene in the prevention and maintenance of individual, couple and family mental health, in addition to creating support groups for people who share the same problem. We also work with a wide network of collaborators to whom we refer you if necessary. If you have any questions, you can contact us through these contact details.