The first session is treated as an initial consultation where I ask you a few questions to better understand what you are looking for from therapy. It is totally okay if you do not have the answers to these questions- we will get curious and discover them together in time. I will also ask you about your interests and the current supports available to you. During this first session, you will have the chance to ask me more questions about my approach and what treatment with me can look like. I will provide you all this information ahead of time but will always give space in sessions for any questions that may come up. If all goes well and you are interested in moving forward, we will schedule the intake session.

Usually conducted in the second session, the intake is when I ask more questions about your physical and mental health, social and family history, and present symptoms/ experiences that may be causing challenges in your day to day. At times, this can feel like a lot to name in one session. Please know that you are never required to answer all of the questions- only share what you feel comfortable. After all, this is likely only our second time meeting and I understand that it takes time to build trust in a relationship. I am a huge fan of giving “headlines” or “chapter titles” for certain topics that we may want to revisit in more depth later. We will have plenty of time to discuss details about your past and present so there is absolutely zero pressure to disclose everything in the first or second session.

Because I will be asking questions about your past, it will also be important for us to make time to create a container for all of these experiences and help ground back in the present. One way we do this will be discussing how you want to transition in and out of our sessions. Virtual therapy can be such a wonderful way of accessing support and at the same time, we need to bring a bit more intention to creating a container and transitional space. The luxury of transitioning in and out of a physical therapy office does not exist in this setting. We will find a practice that works best for you, even if that changes week to week.

Following the intake, we will use the next few sessions to build a relationship, strengthen your existing resources and get any new resources (or coping skills) online while also creating the plan for treatment. This is a collaborative process. I want you to be the one deciding how you want to feel when we are done meeting and I will share my thoughts on the best approach to achieving those goals. We will revisit this plan periodically in order to make any necessary adjustments and assure we are both on the same page about treatment goals moving forward. This is your time and it is valuable. It can be easy for some therapists and clients to fall into familiar patterns of discussing the week in each session. But if that is not what you want to use the time for, then we want to make sure to structure each session so it is focused on your goals. Perhaps contrary to popular belief… the ultimate goal of therapy is to get out of therapy.

In the initial phases of EMDR, we will focus on building resources and enhancing ones that already exist for you. Next, we will identify the early memories that are causing lasting impacts on your present and create a treatment plan for which memory to target first. Once we agree on the treatment plan and new resources feel consistently accessible, you will start the reprocessing stage using the bilateral movements. We will discuss this in depth and practice in advance so you are well informed going into this process. When each target memory is “cleared” and there is no lingering impact in the body, we repeat the process with present day triggers and install future templates where you image navigating any future challenges from your desired state (including how you wish to feel physically and emotionally, what you want to believe about yourself in the situation, and how you want to act or respond).