Q&A: “Do you charge for the first appointment?”
Yes, but this is a good question. Some people legitimately think it’s appropriate for therapists not to charge for their first session. After all, what if it doesn’t work out? What if I’m not a good fit for you? No therapist can (honestly) promise that the fit will be perfect. Like all human relationships, it’s not an exact science.
Even if that’s the case, in my experience the first visit can often accomplish a lot for you. Just to name one thing, the first visit is (usually) the first chance you’ve had in a long time to get your problems off your chest, to talk to someone–someone who’s really listening–about your problems. And that’s therapeutic. Even if we’re not a good fit, you’ll likely walk away feeling a little bit better.
And there’s more. First visits include lots of questions by me about what’s going on for you, what’s bothering you, who you call your family, what your workplace is like, and so on. But this isn’t just a way for me to gather information about you. It’s also a way for you to tell your story, just the way you want to tell it. And sometimes, in telling our stories, we get started on the process of changing them. Have you ever been in the middle of telling people something significant about yourself, and you suddenly realize something new, something you haven’t thought before, about your situation? That can happen in our first session.
And finally, I rarely (if ever) let anyone leave their first session without doing some in-session therapy work, and taking home a few things to think about and work on. So even though I charge for my first appointment, I assure you–the work I put you through is worth it!
