What you need to know
Media
25 Apr 2022
mental health, mental health awareness, mental health being, wellbeing

Scheduling your first counselling session requires bravery and determination — to admit you may need some help or that you have a condition, symptoms, or challenges to work through — and self-awareness to recognise you need a little help.

 

What to expect from your counsellor?

 

Despite some misconceptions, a counsellor’s job isn’t to solve your problems for you. They are not there to tell you what to do, or to tell the people who’ve hurt you just how wrong they were. Counsellors work with you on helping you turn your focus to what you can and can’t change — ultimately: you, your choices, and your responses to events.

During the sessions, counsellors will spend time encouraging you to look inward, talking through challenges and developing strategies to help you cope.Their main goal is to help you learn how to better help yourself.

 

 

What to expect during your first session?

 

This is your time to talk about:

  • What do you want to get out of counselling
  • What do you want to change or improve
  • Set boundaries & expectations
  • What has or hasn’t worked in the past
  • What is lacking or missing in your life

 

 

Now’s the time for your counsellor to get to know you!

 

  • How do you spend your time or what do you do for a living?
  • Your overall health
  • Your goals for therapy and in life
  • How would you want your sessions to go?
  • Who is your most authentic self?

 

 

What to do after your first therapy session?

 

Ask yourself:

  • "How do I feel about my first session?
  • "How would I feel about going to another session with this counsellor?"
  • "Did I feel comfortable talking with him/her?"
  • "Do I feel like I could work together with him/her on a long-term basis?

 

Remember: there’s no such thing as a one-session cure. You may feel a little better or relieved, but your symptoms won’t immediately disappear. Additionally, you may have some “homework” from your counsellor before your next session. This could be anything from journaling throughout the week to doing a little reading that may help provide context for your next session. Whatever work you do between sessions is about making you feel healthier and happier, not about getting a good grade.

 

 

What does Mindside offer?

 

  • Free, anonymous mental health assessment on www.mindside.sg/Online-Screening
  • Consultations with our Partner GPs
  • Counselling with our mental health counsellor
  • Subsidised medications

 

 

Appointments can be made via:

 

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