Question 1

01. What is therapy?

Accepted Answer

The process of taking professional assistance to resolve a personal or psychological problem is called therapy. This could be difficulty in regulating emotions, any kind of distress, relationship troubles, anxiety and depression etc.

Question 2

02. What happens in a therapy session?

Accepted Answer

Therapy basically involves talking out one’s thoughts and feelings, within a safe and non-judgemental setting. Therapy is a process. It is not a quick fix as it entails finding the root cause of the problem and addressing it at the root cause level.

Question 3

03. What can I expect from my therapist?

Accepted Answer

You can expect your therapist to be warm, accepting, non-judgemental and empathetic. Your therapist is trained with a set of skills to help you become more self-aware and equip you with better coping and communication skills to allow you to find a solution to the problem.

Question 4

04. What kind of therapy is offered? Will my therapist prescribe medicines?

Accepted Answer

Your therapist is trained in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is a process to identify the original cause of any psychological, emotional or behavioural issues causing distress to the client. And by working together with the client, help to arrive at an understanding of the how the past has shaped the personality / belief system, world view etc. and then to identify a goal / desired change and work towards achieving that. Your therapist is not a medical doctor and so cannot prescribe any medicines. If she believes there might be an underlying condition to be addressed, she might refer to apsychiatrist for an assessment.

Your therapist is also trained in rebirthing breathwork which is useful in releasing
body held trauma.

Question 5

05. Is therapy completely confidential?

Accepted Answer

Therapy is a confidential process, yes. However if the therapist believes there’s credible risk of self-harm, risk of harm to another or if there is any kind of abuse going on, confidentiality may need to be broken. An emergency contact person will be identified for this purpose, right at the beginning of the therapy process. The therapist will inform the client before breaking confidentiality and contacting the emergency contact person. These are the terms of confidentiality. If conditions to break confidentiality do not arise, then everything spoken with the counsellor will remain confidential.

Question 6

06. What are the ethics of therapist?

Accepted Answer

Ethical practices require the therapist to be trained and certified, to be in personal therapy themselves, to be under supervision and maintain standard ethical practises related to work set up, comfortable environment and privacy.

Question 7

07. What does it mean if my therapist in in supervision?

Accepted Answer

Supervision is an ethical requirement for a mental health practitioner. Your identity or identity revealing details will not be shared with the supervisor. To understand supervision and how it works, do visit https://www.greatlakespsychologygroup.com/blog/why-does-my-therapist-have-a-supervisor

Question 8

08. Can I befriend my therapist online or offline?

Accepted Answer

No, the therapist-client relationship is a therapeutic one. Therefore it can exist only in the therapy space. In fact if the therapist and client bump into each other in any public space the therapist will not acknowledge or greet the client. In case the client greets the therapist, then the latter will respond.

Question 9

09. If I am already in individual therapy can I refer my partner to the same therapist for individual therapy as well?

Accepted Answer

No, as that is potentially conflict of interest it is unethical for the therapist to be seeing a couple for separate individual therapy.

Question 10

10. Can I cancel my appointment on the same day?

Accepted Answer

Please bear in mind that your therapist works with people in distress. This includes people with serious issues like depression / anxiety / abusive relationships / suicidal thoughts and other emergencies. A same day cancellation denies another client in need of support from using the slot if there’s not enough time to manage their schedules. If you fall sick the previous day, please keep your therapist informed immediately so another client waiting against cancellation can be kept informed. If you are better by the date of the appointment you can keep your appointment. If you remain ill, the client waiting against cancellation will be given the slot as they too were intimated about the possibility of cancellation. Cancellation policy is 24 hours in advance. Less than 24 hours will be fully chargeable.

Question 11

11. Will there be any kind of record kept?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the therapist will maintain case notes. These are confidential and will not be shared or revealed. These are destroyed two year after closing therapy.

Question 12

12. How can I find out about my therapist’s training or competence?

Accepted Answer

A client has the right to ask. Just like you would want to get treated by a qualified, competent and experienced medical doctor, so too you have the right with regard to mental health professional. Ask!

Question 13

13. Why is meeting a therapist taboo?

Accepted Answer

Largely due to misconceptions that therapy means you “are mad”, “lost it” or “not okay”, so on and so forth. The truth couldn’t be more different. It’s important for each of us to acknowledge that we are but human. We have strengths and limitations. Meeting a therapist means we see that ‘its OK not to be Ok all the time.’ And that we are ready to take help with the ‘not OK part of us.’

MAMTHA RAJESH

FAQ