What to Expect From Your First Therapy Session
What to Expect From Your First Therapy Session
By Caleb Bonno, BA
Clinical Psychologist Practicum Trainee
It’s a big deal to start therapy. In my last blog post, I talked about how, despite being an advocate for mental health for most of my life, as well as knowing that I wanted to become a therapist for roughly the last decade, it was only January of 2025 that I actively sought out my own treatment. This was at least partially due to a fear of the unknown and not knowing what to expect from my therapist — especially in the first session. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to base this blog on that idea. I want to share an idea of what things look like when one begins therapy in order to help those who may also feel similarly.
The Intake Experience
Before treatment can start, it is common practice for a clinician to have an intake session with their new client, or in the case of minors, an intake session with their parents. This will usually take the form of a lot of consecutive information about a number of topics, ranging from HIPPA compliance to various clinic policies, followed by a loosely structured interview about what the client’s presenting concern is. The clinician may ask questions about your values, background, and beliefs. All of this is designed to give the clinician an idea of who you are and how you can best be helped in the therapy room, and is designed to make the actual first session focused more on the client as they currently are, rather than administrative or logistical work.
If you’re a minor who won’t be attending the initial intake session, or otherwise curious as to what the first real session will look like, then look no further! While I can’t speak for every therapist, I can speak for myself and for what common practice is amongst most therapists. The first session should be dedicated to building rapport between the client and clinician. This can look like any number of things, ranging from playing games, to coloring, to having a genuine heart-to-heart conversation. The only thing I would say for certain is that the clinician will never do anything to make you feel uncomfortable or out of place. Authenticity and safety are important values for any therapist, and any therapist worth their mettle will strive to provide a safe and authentic experience for their clients. Therapy is hard work, and for it to pay off, it’s super important that there’s a certain degree of trust and overall likability shared between the client and clinician. Without that rapport being built, clients are less likely to be open and honest with their clinicians, and therapy as a whole is less likely to be truly effective.
Starting therapy can be scary, and not knowing what to expect when starting therapy can make it even scarier. My own experience reflects this, and I wish that I had someone there to lay out exactly what to expect before I began my treatment. It is my hope that this blog post was able to do that for someone else, and if it made it easier for even one person to take the leap and schedule their first session, then I am glad to have written it.
Mala’s Upcoming Therapy Groups
Healthy Connections
Mondays, 3:00-4:30 PM
March 2 – March 23, 2026
Mala’s Farmington Hill’s Office
$85/session, or in-network with BCBS & Aetna
DBT Group for Teens
Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00 PM
February 18, 2026 – May 6, 2026
Mala’s Ann Arbor Office
$85/session, or in-network with BCBS & Aetna
If you have any questions concerning care at Mala or would like to reach out for another reason, we’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
The Mala Child & Family Institute Team
