What a therapy session with me might be like.
Picture this.
Before you know it, soon after you searched google for “EMDR therapist in Salt Lake City” or “therapist near me” and found my page, we’re already working together and starting to unpack your concerns.
But before you get to that point, you might be wondering: what might a therapy session with me feel like?
That’s a valid question, as therapy session can run the gamut from really structured to very little structure and from very stoic and serious to lighthearted.
Having an idea of what therapy with any given therapist might feel like is a huge part in your decision of choosing a therapist.
So what might a therapy session with me feel like?
Here’s a just three things that I think stand out from many of my sessions:
We will laugh.
Some people might find this surprising, but I find laughter to be so important in our time together. Maybe we’ll laugh about current events or reality TV or maybe we’ll laugh about some of the things that happened in between sessions that you feel incredulous about or maybe we’ll even laugh when talking about some hard things. Now, I don’t let us completely avoid the hard things by laughter (you’d be wasting your time if I did that), but I’m never going to be one of those stoic, stone-cold therapists. Humans use humor to give ourselves space from difficult emotions… I’m never going to force you to “sit in the hard stuff” the entire session. We can absolutely share some humor about it all.
You are the boss.
I know that can make some people feel worried, like “ahh but what if I don’t know what to talk about.” Don’t fear! I’ll always come equipped with notes about areas we’ve been working on, topics we may want to visit, or questions I’ve been wondering about. But, at the end of the day, the time is yours. This often looks like me reminding you about where we’ve been or where we’ve talked about going and letting you decide what you want to jump into during our time today. Don’t want to talk about the really hard thing today? Great, we don’t have to (though I won’t let you completely avoid it forever 😉). Only you can know what you need from a certain session on any given day and I’ll trust you with that.
There likely will be some discomfort at some point.
Now before you run off, discomfort is inherent to therapy! We’re digging in and getting in touch with experiences, emotions, or parts of ourselves that have been out-of-touch for a long time. You and I will make sure that the discomfort doesn’t get too overwhelming, but we will touch on some of the pain. I like to think of it this way: if you were to have a big wound on your body somewhere, you would need to get in there and clean it out really well before bandaging it up. Otherwise, it probably won’t heal quite right. Some of our work in therapy is to open up, look around, and clean out some of the “wounds” you’re carrying. It likely isn’t going to feel pleasant the entire time, but that’s a necessary step in creating the conditions for healing.
Although I could write many more words about what our sessions might be like, these feel like important standouts. And the rest? Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.
If you're looking for a therapist and this post resonates with you, then you might be in the right place!
My name is Erin and I’m a mental health and EMDR therapist in Salt Lake City.
I work with women who have experienced trauma or who are stuck in patterns that are no longer working but seem impossible to break (like people-pleasing, perfectionism, or self-criticism).
I’m accepting new clients in Utah and I have a spot on my schedule with your name on it.
Click here to schedule a free intro call with me - no strings attached. I can’t wait to meet you!
