Therapy 101: A Guide to Beginning Therapy

Find a Therapist Now with Match Me

If you’ve booked your first therapy appointment, congratulations! You’ve made it over the biggest hurdle. It can take time and courage to make it this far. 
 
If you haven’t made a booking yet, that’s totally ok too. This article will help you take considered steps to get there. Therapy is great for personal development, even when life is going well . When life is more challenging, there are some signs that may indicate therapy will be particularly beneficial: 

• You've gone through a difficult life event 
• You're struggling with your close relationships  
• You’re not managing your emotions well 
• You're thinking a lot about challenges in your life 

Once you’ve booked your first appointment, you might be feeling excited or nervous. In either case, it’s helpful to take steps to prepare, so you can get the most out of the time with your therapist.  

Four steps for beginning therapy 

Step 1: Find the right fit 

It’s well established that the ‘therapeutic alliance’ - that is, a collaborative, trusting relationship between a therapist and a client - is pivotal to a positive outcome. But how do you choose a therapist who you’re likely to trust and collaborate with? 
 
This question has been at the heart of our design process for Clearhead’s new  Match Me service, an intelligent therapist search tool which we’ve been trialling over the past year. Perhaps unsurprisingly (especially if you’ve ever used dating apps), it's difficult to predict a successful relationship; the best indicator of fit is how you feel about the person when you meet them.  

 
What we have discovered is that people who are new to therapy are overwhelmed with choice and specialisations. We designed Match Me to narrow down the options by suggesting three therapists from Clearhead’s approved network of hundreds of therapists, based on people's reason for seeking therapy and their personal preferences: 

• Specialisations: You describe why you’re seeking therapy and Match Me automatically selects the relevant specialisations from hundreds of available categories 
• Video call vs in-person: A lot of people prefer to do therapy in-person, but video calls open your options if you don’t live in a big city. Video calls are also convenient for busy people 
• Gender: In some cases, gender may be a factor for choosing a therapist. For example, if you’ve had challenges with men, you may find a female feels safer, or perhaps seeing an emotionally intelligent male therapist would be beneficial for supporting you to work through your issues with men 
• Age: We found people are sometimes looking for a therapist who will understand their generational context, though we recommend considering experience over age. You can also filter by experience and other advanced filters in our Find a therapist search engine.  
• Profession: A specific therapist profession may approach therapy in a style that you prefer. You can learn more about Clearhead’s available professions here 
• Focuses: These allow you to choose therapists who work with different age-brackets (i.e., individual adults or adolescents), and offer couples therapy, family therapy, etc. We’ve also included some specialisations under Focuses that relate to some people’s identities, which are often overrepresented in therapy (e.g., neurodivergence, queer/LGBTQIA+, etc).  
• Availability & price: When it comes down to it, availability and price may be fundamental to your decision, so you can sort by these parameters in our Find a Therapist search engine.  

It’s important to have a few backup options as you can never be sure what your relationship will be like until you experience it. If you’re using Clearhead’s Find a Therapist search then we recommend favouriting at least three therapists by clicking the heart icon on their profiles, so you can easily find them again. 

Step 2: Fund therapy 
If you can’t afford to pay for therapy yourself, there are variety of ways to fund it which we outline fully in this blog. 

This includes options like ACC Sensitive Claims, Primary Health Organisation (PHO) funding through your GP, WINZ Disability Allowance, and others. 

An increasingly popular way people are funding therapy is through an Employment Assistance Program (EAP). This is when organisations fund therapy sessions, generally three per year on request, regardless of whether they’re related to personal or work-related issues.  
 
Clearhead operates as an EAP. If you would like to anonymously refer Clearhead to your workplace then simply complete this form.  

Step 3: Prepare for your first appointment 

It’s important to remember that it’s the therapist’s job to facilitate the conversation. That said, you can support the process by doing some reflection beforehand.  

Most therapists will want to understand two things in the first appointment – your goals and your relevant personal history. 

Regarding goals, it can be helpful to reflect on what you want to accomplish in therapy. These might be focused on positive changes (e.g., feel more confident) or overcoming challenges (e.g., feel less anxious). It’s ok if your goals aren’t clear; your therapist can help you shape up what you're thinking.  

Here are three ways to stimulate personal reflection: 

• If you're fortunate enough to have people in your life who you trust, talk to them about your goals and relevant memories from your life. This also sets you up with an ongoing support system 
• Mood journaling is a great tool to support self-awareness as it helps you see the connections between your mood and what you’re doing each day. If you have access to Clearhead’s app, then you can use our Mood Journal feature or you could simply use a paper journal – it's as easy as rating your mood out of 10 and writing about what you were thinking and doing each day  
• Timelining can be another helpful tool. Write down the events and relationships that have shaped your life over time. You don’t need to overdo it, even spending five minutes thinking this over can really save time in your session.  

Finally, make sure you schedule some time for yourself after the appointment, even making time for a short walk can work wonders. It’s important to give yourself space to process what you talk about, so you feel ready to continue with your day.  

Step 4: Decide if your therapist is the right fit 

It can be difficult to know what your relationship with your therapist is going to be like until you experience it.  
 
It's important to be open minded about your therapist, but if something feels 'off' then it may not be a good fit. An important factor in developing trust with a therapist is that you don’t feel judged by them. Judgement can be a red flag and suggests the therapist doesn’t understand you. 

You can read more about deciding if your therapist is the right fit in our blog specifically about this.   
 
Unfortunately, therapy is not a quick fix; it can take time and effort to begin experiencing the full benefits. Some sessions may feel amazing and eye opening, and others may feel difficult and seem like you’re making no progress. However, a good therapist will be your guide – offering you support, empathy, a sense of calm confidence, and encouragement along your journey no matter how you’re feeling. 

Whether you book a therapist on Clearhead or find someone elsewhere, we’re pleased you're taking a step to improving your wellbeing,