I have a psychologist that I see every month. I shall share my experiences of therapy with you if you are at all interested in giving it a try or if you know you will have do therapy sometime soon.

What's the first appointment like? I filled out a survey about my symptoms and mental health before my appointment. I went in and sat down on a couch (yes, there's a couch. There better be. Haha). My therapist greeted me and asked a lot of get-to-know-me questions - how big is your family, do you have any pets, what are your hobbies, what classes are you taking in school - and so on. I think we may have briefly touched on what some of my issues were at the end of my appointment just so she could acknowledge what we needed to work on.

What are regular appointments like? Usually she starts by asking how I am. Then she'll look over her notes and ask about things we discussed at earlier appointments. Usually she'll ask if I made improvements with something or about something as simple as news about how my sister is doing at college. By the way, don't feel awkward if your therapist writes stuff down. It's not that you've said something crazy - it's mostly because you're not their only client and they need to remember what is going on with you. Anyway, she'll try to find out if there's anything bothering me. For example, one time I was really putting off asking teachers for recommendations letters for college. I felt like it would be a huge burden on them. But my therapist said they would probably feel honored, not burdened. Therapists try to reason with you. Also... they try to help you set goals, which is *extremely* important in overcoming anxiety and depression. One the goals was making my own phone calls more often and speaking up more during group projects at school.

What if I don't like my therapist? It's your right to change therapists if you don't like the one you get. Give them a few appointments to get used to them, but if they aren't working - bye bye. But remember, most therapists became therapists because they genuinely want to help people. They went to school for it. These aren't cashiers at the grocery market. You have a much higher chance of meeting a highly friendly and caring therapist than a highly friendly and caring cashier. Not that friendly and caring cashiers can't exist! (pssst, my first job is cashier...ing!)

Do you personally like therapy? You know, sometimes I dread a therapist's appointment because I want to bottle all my emotions and sometimes knowing I have an appointment is the only thing holding me together. All in all, it has been a good experience. I wasn't setting goals for myself before therapy. Without the goals to get better, it's really hard to get better. Sounds simple enough, but often I felt like I didn't deserve to get better. After a while of hearing about goals I needed to work on, I started trying to reach them. I think it's given me a lot more hope and motivation. It's an investment of time though - that's for sure. You can't build yourself up overnight.