People seek therapy for a variety of reasons including help or support with life transitions, relationship difficulties; work and career stresses, major life decisions, issues around grief and loss, or to deal with events from the past that are still bothersome and impacting their daily lives. Whatever your reasons may be, therapy can be a safe, emotional space where you can explore ways to build the life that you want.
Individual therapy begins with the two of us meeting for an assessment and evaluation session for approximately 60 minutes. If you are using your insurance, this first meeting will be billed as an “evaluation”. All meetings after that will be billed as individual psychotherapy, and these sessions last 45 – 50 minutes.
Even though there is technically only one evaluation session, in practice, the first few times we meet I will be asking you many questions about your background, current symptoms, and reasons for seeing treatment to get a good understanding of where you would like to focus our work. You will also have an opportunity to ask me any questions you may have about me, how I work, or therapy in general! After these first few sessions, a diagnosis and treatment goals may be discussed.
Generally, the agenda in our sessions will be set collaboratively and treatment will progress at your own pace. I’ve found that for some people, 45 minutes seems like a really long time, and for others, the time seems to fly by! For this reason, I recommend my clients think about what they would like to discuss before the session as this can help to make our use of time more effective, though this is certainly not required!
QUESTIONS?
Please see the FAQ section for more information.
READY TO TALK?
Contact me at nlively@family-institute.org if you have any questions, or would like to schedule an appointment.
HOW IT WORKS
Individual therapy begins with the two of us meeting for an assessment and evaluation session for approximately 60 minutes. If you are using your insurance, this first meeting will be billed as an “evaluation”. All meetings after that will be billed as “individual psychotherapy” and will last approximately 60 minutes. Even though I am only billing for one evaluation session, in practice the first 4 – 5 times we meet will be for the purposes of assessment and treatment planning.
First Meeting
In the first meeting, we will spend time discussing the reasons for seeking treatment, and I will also be asking about your relationship history. You might need a second meeting to completely tell me the story your family and relationship history.
Individual Meetings
After our initial meetings all together, I will schedule a meeting with each of you individually that will last for approximately 60 minutes. In the individual meetings, I will be asking each of you questions about your own personal family histories.
The Work Begins
I will then compile information gathered at our initial meetings, and we will meet all together again to discuss areas of strength and vulnerability in your relationship, and begin to set treatment goals. We will then work collaboratively to address the areas of your relationship that need strengthening, and will check-in regularly about your progress.