Alcoholism Recovery & Treatment

Congratulations! I think you’ve made an excellent and courageous decision which will have a profoundly positive effect on your life.
All therapists work differently, but you probably won’t delve into your psyche very deeply during the initial session, especially if you’re uncomfortable–at first, most people are. After all, you’re talking to a stranger.
The therapist will ask for some basic information and your history for her files, why you’re there and for what purpose you would like to use therapy. So you might want to give this some thought prior to the meeting. Your question would be a perfect response. If she’s a good therapist, she’ll put you at ease.
She might tell you how therapy works and what sessions are like. She may volunteer information about her background. If she doesn’t, feel free to ask about her professional experience (e.g., how long she’s been practicing, what kind of clients she’s seen, in what particular form of therapy she specializes/was trained) and what your meetings will be like. Sessions last about 45-50 minutes, after which she’ll schedule another appointment that’s convenient to your schedule. Most sessions take place weekly, but sometimes bi-weekly or every three weeks. Based on clients with similar issues, she’ll help determine the most appropriate frequency for your visits.
Most likely you’ll begin working on specific issues in the second meeting, which is where the progress really starts. At one point during my second session, my therapist asked me to talk about something. A reluctant inner voice said “OK, here I go, I guess.” It felt kind of like jumping into a pool. Since you find it impossible to talk about your feelings or open up to anyone, at some point you’re going to have to take a leap of faith in order for therapy to be of any benefit. You’ll probably find it surprising to feel so much relief simply by talking about yourself with someone! This is a very common response to therapy. Just remember that your therapist will never take you beyond the threshold of what your emotions can reasonably handle, nor ask anything of you that you’re not comfortable with. All therapists are bound by professional commitment to hold anything that transpires during your sessions in the strictest confidence.
Try to go easy on yourself in the beginning and don’t expect huge results immediately. Therapy is a gradual process in which big changes require time and effort. If you don’t start feeling some relief within a month or so, you can ask your therapist why. With more intense issues, you might feel temporarily worse before beginning to feel better. This is totally normal, since deeply-rooted, traumatic issues and feelings are surfacing, and it’s frightening to relive their memory. A good analogy would be a cleansing diet for the body; when toxins (trauma) begin exiting the system, a temporary increase in symptoms can occur. This, however, presents a golden opportunity to understand the origins of these issues more clearly so that you can eventually diminish their debilitating effect.
Don’t be surprised or offended if your therapist suggests a referral to a psychiatrist to see if medication can be of additional help. Psychiatric medications are most effective when combined with psychotherapy (and vice versa), and together they’re the most effective overall treatment for psychiatric and emotional difficulties. If your therapist doesn’t think you’d benefit from medication, she probably won’t mention it. This will be determined by the severity of your symptoms.
Not all therapists can tell you how long you’ll need to be in therapy, largely because it varies for each of us. If you’d like to get some idea, ask her after a few sessions. Sometimes several sessions are all that’s required for relief (there’s often no ‘cure,’ in the medical sense. Returning to high functioning and emotional well-being are the goals). Severe difficulties can require a more extended period of treatment–often months or, in many cases, even years. In no way should you consider yourself defective or inferior if this is the case. These conditions often have medical origins which require a long-term regimen. I’ll probably be on medication the rest of my life because my condition is caused by a chemical imbalance. My attitude is one of gratefulness, though, as it allows me to lead a highly functional and fulfilling life.
Occasionally a therapist and client aren’t a good clinical ‘fit’ (I had an initial session with a nervous, fast-talking counselor years ago, and it didn’t go beyond that–I had enough anxiety of my own, thank you. I quickly found a good fit with someone else). A good working chemistry is required in a client/therapist relationship. If you’ve given it a fair chance and it still doesn’t feel like a good fit, you can always find another counselor. Just make sure not to use it as an excuse to avoid talking. My example was unusual and the great majority fit well from the start.
Finally, it’s necessary that you trust your therapist implicitly, because only then will you be able to reveal honestly your most deeply-rooted issues, and that’s how you’ll come to understand and deal with them effectively. If all goes well, within a short time your therapist will begin to feel more like a best friend and teammate with whom you can talk about anything, knowing that only your best interests are uppermost in her mind, and that she’s commited to helping you feel good about yourself again.
Good luck!
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My mom’s friend went to therapy and the therapist shared a little bit about herself first so my mom’s friend got comfortable. After that everything was fine. If you have a nice therapist you should be fine.

Your therapist will spend some time getting to know you and earning your trust before you’ll delve into your issues.
As someone who for years struggled with the very issues you mention (eating disorder, alcoholism, relationship issues) I want to offer you some hope. Therapy helped me a lot, but I found that I only got out of it what I put into it. In other words, I had to be honest with my therapist, and I had to be willing to do what she suggested–not just in therapy but in my everyday life. I worked very hard in therapy for . . . let’s see . . . about 7 years. I also went to a 12 step support group (still do). And I am happy today. No problems with food or alcohol, and I am not too bad at relationships either.
Work hard. And good luck!

yes they start off with easy questions about you and they just talk and get to know you little by little you’ll start sharing things with her/him without even being asked. and everything coincidental so say whats ever on your mind.

I’m looking for counseling too! – but my answer comes from my work experience – I had to translate some counseling sessions at work, and usually the first session was very easy and pain-less. The therapist asked some basic information about the client, age, dob, married, kids, hobbies, etc. They also wanted to know about the medical history for both the clients and their family, if they were on meds, mental illness, suicide, patterns of addiction, etc. They will probably ask you the reason why you are there, and what you hope to get out of the counseling sessions.
Just remember that a therapist/counselor is not really there to tell you what to do – but more like – help/guide you so that you can figure it out on your own.
**word of the wise** BE AS HONEST AS YOU CAN BE – otherwise you will feel like the counseling is not helping and you can even become hostile/resentful towards the counselor for “not helping”. Also, the kind of help she/he may give you may not look like the kind of help you want, but it is.