Effective therapy involves active participation and vulnerability, and it’s very normal to feel nervous or uncertain about opening up in therapy when you first begin. Because of this, it can take a little bit of time before a person fully experiences the benefits of therapy. Typically, the first few sessions of therapy are more focused on learning about you and getting to understand the challenges that are bringing you in. During your third session with a therapist, you’ll complete a “treatment plan” that helps to lay out more specific goals for your therapy, and it’s after this that you get into the kinds of sessions that most people picture when they think about what therapy is.  

A therapist’s job is less about giving you prescribed answers to any given question and more about helping you find your own answers to the questions that come up in life. It’s also important to communicate with your therapist about what kind of growth you’re looking for in therapy, and to let your therapist know when you feel like something isn’t working for you.