How is the first interview in psychotherapy?

In the field of psychotherapy, the first interview is the first therapeutic contact between a person suffering from some type of mental distress or distress and a professional psychologist.

This is a crucial moment and of great importance, which although it has many common elements in all its versions, In it, there may be marked differences depending on the theory or school in which each therapist supports his praxis.

In this article we will see how the first interviews in psychological therapy develop, and what can be expected of them.

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The first interviews in psychotherapy: their characteristics

In general, we can say that at this moment there are three elements at stake: the person making the demand, the cause of the demand and the therapist.

Query person

With regard to the first element, the person making the claim is someone suffering from some type of mental illness or difficulty that in one way or another interferes with her life or causes her pain.

That person may have been hesitant to make this decision, as it is not always easy to decide to seek help from a professional, and on many occasions this decision comes when the person feels at the limit, causing demands with urgency and haste. On many occasions, haste can be an obstacle that slows down the active position that a person should have before their treatment.

Be that as it may, we meet someone who is putting his hopes in the therapist and expectations to solve his problem, needing to feel welcomed and protected in that first meeting.

Reason for consultation

These reasons or conditions can be multiple, sometimes It is even possible for the person to sue for a needy third party.

We could make an extensive list of reasons for seeking psychological help, but let's say that the most common are those that have to do with problems or difficulties in relationships with others, couple, family or social, and especially those derived from that relationship that we maintain with ourselves, that particular way that we have of positioning ourselves before the world and that will mark our entire lives relational.

The symptoms that usually appear range from personal dissatisfaction, doubts and conflicting feelings that oscillate between victimhood and guilt, feelings of helplessness, anger, frustration, fears and a long list of emotions that will lead to situations of anxiety, stress, apathy, depressive states, phobias, and in general ailments that will interfere with our well-being, both psychic and physical, because there is no doubt that the body also suffers.

Therapist

And finally, we have the therapist, that person who welcomes the subject and his demand. What would his performance be like in those first interviews?

In this phase of therapy, the therapist works to create a climate of empathy and trust through warmth and closeness. He lets the patient know that this is her space, that it is a confidential place where he can speak and say whatever he wants to say without being evaluated nor censored for it.

For this, it is necessary for the professional to know how to encourage the participation of the patient and that this is involved through the expression of his experiences, feelings and thoughts.

We can say that These first moments are for collecting information about the client's problems, how he experiences it and his expectations regarding therapy.Therefore, attentive and differential listening is needed, since the same problem will not be experienced the same by each individual, nor will the expectations always be the same. You have to listen not only to the problem itself, but to that story and story that each one brings.

The therapist must also work on both the patient's anguish and his own. As we have already pointed out previously, the patient may appear with the urgency of wanting to solve his problem soon, and this can lead to the therapist an attempt to give quick answers by making hasty and inadequate interventions as he does not yet have enough information. It is necessary at this time to draw on experience and above all professional ethics, which will guide not only what you do but also how you do it.

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Key aspects of these sessions

The main characteristics of an initial interview in psychotherapy They are:

• Establish a starting point in the therapeutic relationship.
• He picks up a request for help that he tries to understand and respond to.
• It is a technique prior to diagnosis.
• It has a purpose.
• It is an interpersonal relationship with reciprocal influence between patient and therapist.

goals

Regarding the objectives of the first interviews in therapy, are the following.

• Foster a warm atmosphere of empathy, trust, and acceptance.
• Knowing how to listen, attending to both verbal and non-verbal communication.
• Contain the patient's distress.
• Stimulate the verbal expression of the person.
• Identify the problem.
• To establish objectives.
• Select intervention strategies.

Closing the interview

With all the information provided in that first meeting, the session closes for that first interview.. This last phase is preceded by two previous phases: the initiation phase, the objective of which is to concentrates on making the patient comfortable with the therapist, as well as willing to speak without inhibitions; and an intermediate or peak phase, in which most of the information is collected, information is exchanged, problems are clarified, and some decisions are made.

After these two phases, the moment comes when the patient is warned that we are at the final moment of the interview, and you are given the opportunity to communicate any matter that for one reason or another may have skip. Then a summary is made of the findings found and together with the patient, the action plan is programmed. Finally we proceed to the formal farewell.

Conclution

As we can see, there are many reasons why a person may decide to seek psychological help. That person comes for a symptom, but the psychotherapist listens to what the patient has to say beyond the problem itself, since that person comes with a history, a context, and habits with which he will relate his discomfort from that subjectivity that characterizes us and that makes us unique and unrepeatable; it is from there that we will have to listen.

At Iparehum we work from that listening position, in order to help people understand their discomfort and find ways out of it. We have our main objective in human relationships, in that encounter with others so fundamental for the human being and so complicated on many occasions. We offer psychological help and intervene in prevention and maintenance of mental health both individual, couple and family, in addition to creating support groups for people who share the same problematic. We also work with a wide network of collaborators to whom we refer you if necessary. If you have any questions, you can contact us through these contact details.