Why Is the Initial Consultation so Important??

2260 Words10 Pages
Introduction:- Why is the initial consultation so important? What factor will an ethical therapist cover at this time? In this essay I am going to look at why the initial consultation is so important for both the client and the therapist and how much you can get from just the first meeting. I will also discuss what the objectives of the first meeting are, and illustrate how an ethical therapist uses this time to ensure that they have the appropriate skills to deal with the client’s issues or discuss alternatives. The initial consultation will probably be one of the most important sessions of all. This session will form the basis of the whole therapy and help it to be a success for the client. There are certain steps the therapist needs to take to make sure that the client is going to benefit from the whole therapy and this can be looked at in the initial consultation. The initial consultation should not last any more than an hour and in this time you can do all the fact finding what you need to do about the client, and then towards the end of the session you can do a PMR just so the client would get a feel of what will happen in future sessions. Whilst the first part of the meeting is clearly an exercise, in fact-finding, the most important aspect of an initial meeting is to ascertain in the client/therapist relationship will work successfully. Whether there is mutual respect, trust and clarity around what will happen in subsequent meetings. From the moment you meet your client, you will be assessing them, however, you will be trying to create an environment which puts both you and your client at ease. Therefore finding neutral subjects and shared ground in order to give them time to take in their new surroundings, will in turn allow them assess and appraise you. The use of open questions and active listening techniques to glean answers rather than firing
Open Document