Finding the Right Counselor is Essential
in Order for Therapy to be Effective
Audio Version
After a counseling or therapy session, it is important to process through your experience to determine if your therapist is the right fit for you. If you felt overwhelmed, or out of your comfort zone, it could be a sign that meaningful work took place. It is recommended that if or when this arises that you consider discussing your feelings with your therapist to ensure future sessions flow the way you desire.
Often after an emotionally intense session people have experienced a “therapy hangover”; which is the result of feeling drained after the session. Take the time to recharge and care for yourself following these sessions, particularly during the initial stages of therapy.
If you’re unsure whether your therapist is the right match for you, take some time to process through the session and consider specific areas that may have caused you more discomfort than others. Remember that healing takes time and won’t happen overnight, but it is important to discuss this with your therapist.
Often when you first begin therapy it can uproot buried emotions to the surface, which can be a painful experience. Taking the time to process and assess your therapy sessions will help you determine if this discomfort is par for the course or if it may be possible that your therapist is not a good fit for you.
Post-session analysis can be beneficial in helping you evaluate whether your therapist is a good fit for you. The below questions can help you evaluate if the therapist is a good fit for you.
- Did you like the physical or virtual environment? If the therapy environment does not offer safety and comfort, then it does not have the basic elements necessary to foster a successful therapy session. Things that may be a distraction could be the office set, location of the office, if virtual the therapist may not have a good signal, background noise could be an issue and so many other factors.
- Is the therapist genuinely caring and fully present? You are not looking for a perfect therapist, what you would want to look for is a therapist who is authentically or genuinely caring. When engaging in therapy this should be the one place where you are genuinely and openly heard the duration of the session.
- Are they offering an unattainable goal, or is the plan of treatment unrealistic? It is natural to feel wary when meeting a stranger for the first time, and more so when your therapist gives you guarantees of when and how symptoms will decrease. The right fit therapist would understand their limitations and the natural flow of therapy.
- What’s your engagement like with your therapist? Research has shown that often the relationship with your therapist can be more impactful than any therapeutic intervention they can offer. In order to build trust, you must first feel safe within the relationship.
Fully committing to therapy can be emotionally draining, it can also be a life changing experience when you find the therapist that is “for” you. If you’re seeking a counselor who can guide you through this process, consider contacting Carolina Counseling Services – Pittsboro, NC. Whether in-person or through online counseling, our independently contracted counselors can provide the support you need. Remember, you have options available to you – reach out to CCS today.