Your first session
Your first session, step by step
Eighty minutes with both of you. You do not have to decide anything that day.
- 01
Step 1: Before: your fee in writing
We send your fee and, if you pay without insurance, the good faith estimate. We also send the address and how to join by video.
- 02
Step 2: The first ten minutes
We say how the session will go, how privacy works and what we do not do. You can ask anything.
- 03
Step 3: Each of you, in turn
We ask what you would like to be different. Each of you speaks, and the other listens.
- 04
Step 4: How we would work together
We talk about the method, the length of the next sessions (50 or 80 minutes) and the pace. You decide afterward whether to book another.
The room
A quiet room, and no forms to fill in there
Bring nothing but yourselves. We do not ask for medical details in a message or in the room.
If you see us by video, sit somewhere private and use headphones if others are home. If either of you would rather change the plan on the day, tell us.
Both of you attend
80 minutes, with a pause if you need one
A written fee before you come
Questions
Before your first session
What happens in the first session?
The first session is 80 minutes with both of you. We ask what you would like to be different, hear each of you in turn, and talk about how we would work together. You do not have to decide anything that day.
How often do we meet, and for how long?
Sessions are 50 or 80 minutes, and you choose. Most couples meet every week or every other week at first. Your clinician sets the pace with you and does not promise a number of sessions.
What is private, and what are the limits?
We keep your records private and share them only as the law allows. The law has limits: a serious risk of harm, abuse of a child or an older adult, or a court order. In couples therapy we do not keep secrets between partners.
Book your first session
Tell us which times suit both of you.