WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.503 --> 00:00:02.243 Julia: Today, I'm so excited! 00:00:02.243 --> 00:00:06.790 We are going to be talking about what to expect when you're starting therapy, and 00:00:06.790 --> 00:00:09.459 I am honored to be joined by Aaron Hart. 00:00:09.490 --> 00:00:13.363 Aaron is a licensed therapist and also our mountains team 00:00:13.363 --> 00:00:15.583 coordinator here at Jefferson Center. 00:00:15.583 --> 00:00:18.999 She is gonna walk us through what it looks like if you've never been to 00:00:18.999 --> 00:00:21.189 therapy before or it's your first time. 00:00:21.402 --> 00:00:22.182 What to expect. 00:00:22.182 --> 00:00:26.562 I think a lot of people think of the cliche of you're lying on a couch and 00:00:26.562 --> 00:00:30.187 you're therapist is they're looking very serious with their clipboard, 00:00:30.457 --> 00:00:34.297 scribbling all the questions, and then they're gonna solve all of your problems. 00:00:34.377 --> 00:00:36.957 I don't think that's really what happens in therapy. 00:00:36.957 --> 00:00:40.747 So I'm excited that we're gonna be talking today about, what that looks like and 00:00:40.747 --> 00:00:44.817 what the benefits are of therapy how it works and how your therapist helps 00:00:44.817 --> 00:00:47.457 you, but also how you help yourself too. 00:00:47.457 --> 00:00:48.897 So yeah, Aaron thanks for joining us. 00:00:49.332 --> 00:00:49.962 Aaron Hart: Thanks Julia. 00:00:50.292 --> 00:00:50.712 Julia: Yeah. 00:00:50.712 --> 00:00:56.644 So the first question would be, why should someone start seeing a therapist? 00:00:57.566 --> 00:01:00.866 Aaron Hart: People come to therapy for a lot of different reasons actually. 00:01:00.866 --> 00:01:04.466 Some people come because they just wanna talk through something or get 00:01:04.466 --> 00:01:09.266 some additional support around a stressful situation or some changes 00:01:09.266 --> 00:01:12.244 that they may have in their lives that they're struggling with. 00:01:12.919 --> 00:01:17.479 Other people come because they're actually experiencing some mental health symptoms. 00:01:17.534 --> 00:01:19.994 Something like depression or anxiety. 00:01:20.414 --> 00:01:23.204 Or something a little more serious, like suicidal thoughts. 00:01:23.514 --> 00:01:26.274 Then other people come to therapy because they're struggling with 00:01:26.274 --> 00:01:28.584 some form of substance use or abuse. 00:01:28.996 --> 00:01:31.841 Then other people come for a combination of those reasons. 00:01:32.606 --> 00:01:35.339 Julia: Great, and if you're going to therapy how long are you 00:01:35.339 --> 00:01:37.649 in therapy, if that makes sense? 00:01:37.815 --> 00:01:39.885 Aaron Hart: You know that, that really depends. 00:01:39.986 --> 00:01:44.576 It depends on how long you've been experiencing symptoms, how severe 00:01:44.576 --> 00:01:46.496 they are, what you're dealing with. 00:01:46.496 --> 00:01:49.286 So sometimes therapy can only last a few sessions. 00:01:49.286 --> 00:01:50.786 Sometimes it goes on a lot longer. 00:01:51.266 --> 00:01:54.021 It really just depends on the individual and what they're struggling with. 00:01:54.851 --> 00:01:58.391 Julia: Okay, so really individualized care, it sounds like that therapy 00:01:58.391 --> 00:02:02.824 can be different for every single person depending on what you're 00:02:02.824 --> 00:02:06.034 dealing with and what you wanna talk about and, how you work through it. 00:02:07.414 --> 00:02:11.004 What type of questions would a therapist ask on a first visit? 00:02:11.702 --> 00:02:14.262 Aaron Hart: There's actually two kinds of first visits. 00:02:14.722 --> 00:02:17.212 The first direct contact that you'll generally have with a 00:02:17.212 --> 00:02:18.742 clinician is called an intake. 00:02:19.503 --> 00:02:21.963 This may or may not be with the person that you're 00:02:21.963 --> 00:02:23.373 actually gonna see for therapy. 00:02:23.932 --> 00:02:28.912 So at an intake, it usually takes about an hour and they're gonna ask you some pretty 00:02:28.912 --> 00:02:33.375 general questions about what's bringing you to treatment, why are you coming in, 00:02:33.375 --> 00:02:35.415 what symptoms you might be experiencing. 00:02:36.015 --> 00:02:38.595 They might ask you some additional questions about your support 00:02:38.595 --> 00:02:41.475 system, history, physical health, things like that. 00:02:41.475 --> 00:02:46.305 So we can get a general idea as to kinda what's going on with the person. 00:02:46.779 --> 00:02:51.129 You'll also see some assistance with like basic paperwork, like insurance and stuff 00:02:51.129 --> 00:02:52.809 like that, like at any doctor's visit. 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:56.099 Then your first therapy session is gonna look a little bit different. 00:02:56.795 --> 00:02:59.345 That's gonna be with the person that you're actually gonna see for therapy 00:02:59.345 --> 00:03:04.685 over time, and that will also last about 45 minutes to an hour, it depends. 00:03:05.179 --> 00:03:09.109 The therapists, they'll have read that intake and they're gonna ask more in 00:03:09.109 --> 00:03:14.239 depth questions about what brings you in, what are you struggling with, and really 00:03:14.239 --> 00:03:19.159 they wanna know what your experiences are like as an individual, because everybody 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:20.779 experiences things very differently. 00:03:20.779 --> 00:03:23.389 So say you come to me and say, I'm feeling anxious. 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:25.939 I'm gonna wanna know what that feels like for you, because that's 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:28.639 gonna feel differently for you than it is for somebody else. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:31.639 So we're gonna talk a little bit about that, and we're also gonna talk 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:35.539 about the effects that's having on your life, and what you really feel 00:03:35.539 --> 00:03:37.009 you need to do to make that better. 00:03:37.455 --> 00:03:39.615 We'll talk a little bit about your strengths, maybe your 00:03:39.615 --> 00:03:42.585 supports or skills that you're using that are working for you. 00:03:43.135 --> 00:03:47.725 Then we're gonna create what's called a treatment plan, which is a little 00:03:47.725 --> 00:03:51.930 roadmap of these are the goals, this is where you wanna go, and I'm gonna 00:03:52.020 --> 00:03:53.370 help figure out how to get you there. 00:03:53.804 --> 00:03:57.604 So it's very, individualized, very personal, but also pretty 00:03:57.604 --> 00:03:58.924 gentle for that first session. 00:03:59.494 --> 00:04:02.104 Julia: It's like you're almost like a guide in a way. 00:04:02.104 --> 00:04:05.414 It sounds like it's a lot of the person themselves really coming with 00:04:05.594 --> 00:04:08.624 this is what I want, and then you are helping them figure out how to get 00:04:08.624 --> 00:04:10.544 there from a mental health perspective. 00:04:11.047 --> 00:04:11.617 Aaron Hart: Absolutely. 00:04:11.667 --> 00:04:15.087 The, person coming to see me, they're really the expert on their life. 00:04:15.147 --> 00:04:18.537 I'm just there to help 'em work through some stuff, you know? 00:04:20.437 --> 00:04:21.427 Julia: Yeah, I love that. 00:04:21.701 --> 00:04:25.277 Is there anything that a new client can do before they come 00:04:25.277 --> 00:04:26.807 to their first visit to prepare? 00:04:27.037 --> 00:04:29.557 Aaron Hart: If the client has specific information, like maybe current 00:04:29.557 --> 00:04:34.327 medications, information about past treatment, or things that they really 00:04:34.327 --> 00:04:37.927 feel like they wanna share, to have that at least in their head, if not 00:04:37.927 --> 00:04:39.847 written down, can be really helpful. 00:04:40.094 --> 00:04:43.244 If they wanna bring in a list of questions or bring a support 00:04:43.244 --> 00:04:44.804 person with 'em, they can do that. 00:04:45.054 --> 00:04:47.114 If they don't have any of that, that's okay too. 00:04:47.114 --> 00:04:48.764 Really it's just bring yourself. 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:52.409 Just Be open to what the experience is gonna be and 00:04:52.529 --> 00:04:54.089 that's really all you need to do. 00:04:54.549 --> 00:04:57.809 Julia: That's pretty great if all you need to bring is being open to the experience. 00:04:57.809 --> 00:04:59.729 I think that's, pretty easy to do. 00:04:59.729 --> 00:05:00.329 Hopefully. 00:05:00.869 --> 00:05:01.984 Aaron Hart: Hopefully, yeah. 00:05:02.459 --> 00:05:03.089 Julia: That's great. 00:05:03.089 --> 00:05:06.537 So we've talked a little bit about what the first session looks like and 00:05:06.537 --> 00:05:10.827 that you talk with the person and talk about what they're feeling and their 00:05:10.827 --> 00:05:13.977 experiences and what their goals are and what they're hoping to get out of it. 00:05:14.237 --> 00:05:17.957 Can you talk a little bit about, are there different types of therapies? 00:05:18.162 --> 00:05:21.642 Does all therapy mean that you're prescribed medication? 00:05:21.845 --> 00:05:25.755 Are there different tactics and techniques for what therapy looks like. 00:05:25.905 --> 00:05:27.765 This might be a little bit for a first visit. 00:05:27.815 --> 00:05:30.565 How do you decide what that roadmap looks like? 00:05:30.939 --> 00:05:33.159 Aaron Hart: We try to decide that together with the clients. 00:05:33.159 --> 00:05:37.149 So that's part of what a first visit and your first several visits will be about, 00:05:37.629 --> 00:05:42.244 is teaching the client, okay maybe this is your diagnosis or this is what I'm 00:05:42.244 --> 00:05:43.804 seeing and this is how we get there. 00:05:43.804 --> 00:05:47.674 So yeah, there's tons of different interventions that we can use, 00:05:47.674 --> 00:05:49.354 different types of therapy. 00:05:49.624 --> 00:05:51.334 I can't even begin to list them all here. 00:05:53.384 --> 00:05:56.054 So we're gonna decide that together and as far as medication 00:05:56.054 --> 00:05:58.244 goes, no, absolutely not. 00:05:58.244 --> 00:06:01.394 There's lots and lots of things that are treatable that are actually 00:06:01.574 --> 00:06:05.564 more effectively treated with therapy instead of medication. 00:06:05.994 --> 00:06:10.104 We can certainly refer someone to a doctor or a prescriber to talk about 00:06:10.104 --> 00:06:14.814 if medication might be helpful for them, but that is not the case in all. 00:06:14.914 --> 00:06:17.344 I work with lots of people that don't take medication. 00:06:17.394 --> 00:06:18.804 Julia: So lots of different options. 00:06:18.954 --> 00:06:19.284 Aaron Hart: Absolutely. 00:06:19.284 --> 00:06:22.104 Julia: I think that's so great so that it's not that your 00:06:22.104 --> 00:06:25.434 therapist isn't gonna be telling you this is what you have to do. 00:06:25.434 --> 00:06:30.584 It's really that partnership of talking and figuring out what works best for you. 00:06:30.892 --> 00:06:32.212 Aaron Hart: It's not just individual therapy. 00:06:32.212 --> 00:06:36.202 We have other services like group therapy or peer services or things 00:06:36.202 --> 00:06:37.762 like that also might be helpful. 00:06:37.762 --> 00:06:41.152 So you'll talk to your therapist about what's really gonna work best for 00:06:41.152 --> 00:06:43.132 you with your individual situation. 00:06:43.462 --> 00:06:45.682 Julia: So talking a little bit about that again, I'm sure 00:06:45.682 --> 00:06:47.062 there's tons of different things. 00:06:47.112 --> 00:06:49.002 What are, some of the main types of therapy? 00:06:49.042 --> 00:06:51.712 A lot of times we think about it as individual that it's 00:06:51.712 --> 00:06:53.812 just you and the therapist. 00:06:53.862 --> 00:06:56.402 What other kinds of therapy at Jefferson Center are there? 00:06:58.297 --> 00:07:01.087 Aaron Hart: You have the individual therapy, we have group therapy, which 00:07:01.087 --> 00:07:04.447 is where you have one or two therapists and then a group of people that all 00:07:04.447 --> 00:07:08.137 have a similar experience or similar things that they're struggling with. 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:11.840 Particularly with people who struggle with substance abuse group therapy 00:07:11.840 --> 00:07:15.195 is really helpful because you're in a group of people that totally 00:07:15.195 --> 00:07:18.195 get where you're coming from and have had some similar experiences. 00:07:18.632 --> 00:07:21.632 You're also gonna be learning a lot of skills and things like that. 00:07:21.632 --> 00:07:25.272 So that's one of the other really popular types of therapy and 00:07:25.272 --> 00:07:27.012 very effective types of therapy. 00:07:27.345 --> 00:07:30.285 Jefferson Center also offers peer services. 00:07:30.672 --> 00:07:34.722 Which peers are people that have been clients at one point in their lives. 00:07:35.048 --> 00:07:39.728 They've come through their own recovery process and have some special training 00:07:39.728 --> 00:07:44.842 and they're able to help support the clients as they're going through services, 00:07:44.842 --> 00:07:46.702 from a little bit different perspective. 00:07:47.177 --> 00:07:51.257 Julia: The other ones I've heard of are couples therapy, and family therapy, 00:07:51.417 --> 00:07:54.147 Aaron Hart: Yeah, we have couples therapy, we have family therapy, 00:07:54.147 --> 00:07:57.447 we have trauma specific therapy. 00:07:57.818 --> 00:08:01.538 Oh my goodness, there's so many different areas that we offer Jefferson Center. 00:08:01.598 --> 00:08:04.838 Julia: It sounds like there really is a therapy for everybody and a type 00:08:04.838 --> 00:08:08.558 of therapy to help everybody with any of their issues they might be having. 00:08:08.587 --> 00:08:11.107 Aaron Hart: When someone comes in for an intake, we take a look at that 00:08:11.107 --> 00:08:15.353 and we really do our best to try to match the client to the therapist 00:08:15.353 --> 00:08:18.318 that really specializes in stuff that'll be most helpful for them. 00:08:19.238 --> 00:08:21.608 Julia: Talking a little bit about meshing with a therapist. 00:08:21.678 --> 00:08:24.438 What if I feel like I don't have a connection with my 00:08:24.438 --> 00:08:26.238 therapist after the first visit? 00:08:27.648 --> 00:08:28.168 Aaron Hart: You know, that's okay. 00:08:29.058 --> 00:08:32.118 I guess that's the very first thing I would say is that's totally okay. 00:08:32.728 --> 00:08:36.088 So even though we try really hard to find that good fit, it just happens sometimes. 00:08:36.088 --> 00:08:40.258 So what we do whenever possible, we really encourage the client to 00:08:40.258 --> 00:08:41.938 talk to their therapist about that. 00:08:42.388 --> 00:08:46.308 Now, I know that might sound a little uncomfortable or a little scary, but I 00:08:46.313 --> 00:08:50.573 promise you the therapist, they've heard this before, they're not gonna be upset. 00:08:50.573 --> 00:08:51.953 They're not gonna be insulted. 00:08:52.323 --> 00:08:55.113 Their whole goal is to make sure that the client is really getting 00:08:55.113 --> 00:08:56.613 the best possible care for them. 00:08:57.013 --> 00:09:00.643 They're gonna sit down with a client and say, okay, what's not working for you? 00:09:01.263 --> 00:09:04.263 Maybe it's the therapist treatment approach and maybe they try a 00:09:04.263 --> 00:09:08.253 different approach, or maybe they're just in the wrong type of program. 00:09:08.253 --> 00:09:09.663 So we find 'em a different program. 00:09:10.053 --> 00:09:13.113 Sometimes it does mean changing therapists, and that's okay too. 00:09:13.543 --> 00:09:17.053 That's really where the therapists expertise comes in and why it's okay 00:09:17.053 --> 00:09:20.353 to talk to them about that, they're gonna help you figure out really 00:09:20.353 --> 00:09:21.733 what's gonna be the better fit for you. 00:09:22.478 --> 00:09:25.058 Julia: That is good to know 'cause it can be a little bit scary. 00:09:25.108 --> 00:09:29.238 I've been in therapy and there's been once or twice that that's happened to me, where 00:09:29.238 --> 00:09:34.458 I just didn't feel like it meshed that we were just like not on the same page and 00:09:34.458 --> 00:09:37.728 I was too scared to talk to them 'cause they didn't wanna hurt their feelings. 00:09:39.173 --> 00:09:40.883 Aaron Hart: You're definitely not gonna hurt our feelings. 00:09:40.883 --> 00:09:41.453 We get it. 00:09:41.503 --> 00:09:42.943 Sometimes we feel it too. 00:09:43.253 --> 00:09:45.293 We're like, okay, yeah maybe this isn't the best fit. 00:09:45.563 --> 00:09:46.793 Let's, find something better for you. 00:09:47.003 --> 00:09:50.143 If you really don't feel that you can talk to your therapist about it, or if it's 00:09:50.143 --> 00:09:54.343 just too uncomfortable, you can call our main number, we'll get you connected with 00:09:54.553 --> 00:09:58.423 someone like me who's a team coordinator who can help figure that out for you. 00:09:58.693 --> 00:09:59.803 Julia: Yeah, that's great. 00:09:59.803 --> 00:10:03.793 What would be some good questions that I could ask a therapist on the first visit? 00:10:05.203 --> 00:10:06.793 Aaron Hart: That depends on what you wanna know. 00:10:06.937 --> 00:10:08.467 People have all kinds of different questions. 00:10:08.467 --> 00:10:12.337 So the questions I hear most frequently, are about the treatment 00:10:12.337 --> 00:10:16.447 process, what they can expect, maybe how frequently they're gonna be seen. 00:10:16.447 --> 00:10:19.177 Lots of people ask about their diagnosis. 00:10:19.177 --> 00:10:22.177 So we try to provide a lot of education around that. 00:10:22.177 --> 00:10:25.857 People ask about the therapist's experience their credentials. 00:10:25.867 --> 00:10:29.377 Some people have no questions at all, and that's totally okay too. 00:10:29.377 --> 00:10:30.577 Julia: Ready to jump right in. 00:10:30.817 --> 00:10:33.127 Aaron Hart: Yeah, and if you don't have any questions on your first 00:10:33.127 --> 00:10:36.157 visit or some occur to you later on, bring 'em to another visit. 00:10:36.157 --> 00:10:36.577 It's okay. 00:10:37.367 --> 00:10:37.967 Julia: That's great. 00:10:38.270 --> 00:10:41.850 We already talked about it a little bit, but how long does it take therapy to work? 00:10:42.010 --> 00:10:47.140 Also what can you expect for how frequently you'll be seen to be treated? 00:10:47.190 --> 00:10:50.790 Aaron Hart: Frequency really depends on the severity of the person's symptoms, 00:10:50.790 --> 00:10:52.560 their diagnosis, things like that. 00:10:52.822 --> 00:10:58.072 So for someone with a very severe mental illness, maybe something 00:10:58.072 --> 00:11:01.762 like schizophrenia or something that's really high risk, that person 00:11:01.762 --> 00:11:04.612 might be seen weekly and sometimes, occasionally more than that. 00:11:04.942 --> 00:11:09.505 For the average person dealing with maybe some depression or anxiety or, just 00:11:09.805 --> 00:11:13.765 dealing with some life circumstances, we usually see people about every other week, 00:11:14.278 --> 00:11:17.008 for that one hour, 45 minutes to an hour. 00:11:17.458 --> 00:11:21.588 Again, therapy can last like some anxiety disorders, things like that, 00:11:21.588 --> 00:11:23.148 can take as little as six sessions. 00:11:23.682 --> 00:11:26.352 Some of the variables involved in that, not just the severity of the 00:11:26.352 --> 00:11:28.962 symptoms, but also what you put into it. 00:11:28.962 --> 00:11:31.872 The more you put into therapy, the more you're gonna get out of it. 00:11:32.218 --> 00:11:35.878 If you're really participatory in that treatment process, you practice 00:11:35.878 --> 00:11:40.228 your skills regularly, you're gonna feel better, a lot more quickly. 00:11:40.748 --> 00:11:44.378 I also hear from a lot of clients that first session or that first couple of 00:11:44.378 --> 00:11:47.558 sessions, they actually start feeling a little relief pretty quickly. 00:11:48.052 --> 00:11:51.592 Just knowing that they have somebody to talk to and they have some support. 00:11:52.012 --> 00:11:53.872 That can help just that little bit. 00:11:53.872 --> 00:11:59.437 So you might see results or start feeling a little better sooner than you may think. 00:12:00.167 --> 00:12:00.827 Julia: That's so great. 00:12:00.827 --> 00:12:01.277 You're right. 00:12:01.277 --> 00:12:04.797 Sometimes just even just talking about it and you're on that, 00:12:04.797 --> 00:12:06.907 path to start getting better. 00:12:06.937 --> 00:12:08.797 Even that's really helpful sometimes too. 00:12:08.817 --> 00:12:09.687 That's great. 00:12:09.687 --> 00:12:13.137 What are some of the other common questions that you get 00:12:13.137 --> 00:12:15.477 from people about therapy? 00:12:15.577 --> 00:12:18.127 What would you like people to know about starting therapy. 00:12:19.054 --> 00:12:20.794 Aaron Hart: That it's not as scary as you think it is. 00:12:21.357 --> 00:12:24.402 There's a lot of negative thoughts about it. 00:12:24.402 --> 00:12:28.462 Or it's the stuff that like you see on tv, like you said earlier, people envisioning 00:12:28.529 --> 00:12:32.559 laying on the couch and Dr. Freud kinda looking at them asking some questions 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:34.239 and that's not really what it's like. 00:12:34.872 --> 00:12:37.482 You come in, we're people just like you, so we're gonna 00:12:37.482 --> 00:12:38.472 meet you in the waiting room. 00:12:38.472 --> 00:12:40.212 We're gonna bring you into our office. 00:12:40.662 --> 00:12:44.052 And it's just chairs and you can see my office, it's pretty simple. 00:12:44.102 --> 00:12:47.802 You can sit where you're comfortable and we're just gonna talk, we're not 00:12:47.802 --> 00:12:51.342 gonna push you to talk about things that you don't want to, or things 00:12:51.342 --> 00:12:53.112 that you're not ready to talk about. 00:12:53.562 --> 00:12:56.742 We're just gonna gently encourage you to do that as you feel ready. 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:00.170 Yes, we're gonna ask you about your feelings, but not like 00:13:00.170 --> 00:13:01.835 they do in the movies, you know? 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:04.850 And we're gonna provide a lot of education. 00:13:04.850 --> 00:13:09.583 We're gonna teach you every step of the way, what we're doing, what's going on. 00:13:09.643 --> 00:13:11.353 We're gonna help you figure all this out. 00:13:11.353 --> 00:13:14.323 We're not gonna tell you, you should do this, or you should do that. 00:13:14.323 --> 00:13:18.400 We're here to help you see things in a little different light and 00:13:18.400 --> 00:13:22.130 help you decide for yourself what is gonna work best for you. 00:13:24.025 --> 00:13:24.985 Julia: That sounds great. 00:13:24.985 --> 00:13:25.735 Sign me up. 00:13:28.465 --> 00:13:32.515 Erin, thank you so much for all of this information today. 00:13:32.835 --> 00:13:34.515 I know that I found it really helpful. 00:13:34.515 --> 00:13:36.795 I'm sure that everyone watching has as well. 00:13:37.055 --> 00:13:40.205 Also if you're watching this video after it's over, please feel free 00:13:40.205 --> 00:13:41.855 to message us here on Facebook. 00:13:41.855 --> 00:13:44.195 If you have any questions and we'll get back to you. 00:13:44.245 --> 00:13:47.485 Also just know that at Jefferson Center, we're here to support your 00:13:47.485 --> 00:13:51.205 mental health and substance use disorder needs and we are open and 00:13:51.205 --> 00:13:55.165 we're accepting new patients both via phone and telehealth appointments. 00:13:55.265 --> 00:13:58.595 So if you wanna get help or if someone you know needs help, please 00:13:58.595 --> 00:14:01.845 visit our website at jcmh.org. 00:14:01.865 --> 00:14:06.005 Follow us here on Facebook for more resources and information and you can also 00:14:06.005 --> 00:14:11.295 reach us by calling us at 303-425-0300. 00:14:11.675 --> 00:14:12.980 Thanks everybody, have a great day.