Six things you should know about your therapist before you start mental health therapy.

1. What are your qualifications and experience?

It is important to know the educational background, certifications, and areas of specialization for your therapist to make sure they have experience in the specific issues you want help with.

At Long Beach Therapy, we try to put our expertise on our website.  From our home page to our blogs, we try to let our potential clients know what we specialize in and what are angle is on different issues so that our potential clients can feel more comfortable in therapy.

That all being said, if you have questions about your specific issue, please call/text us re: our specializations at Long Beach Therapy at 562-310-9741.

2. What is your approach to therapy?

Understanding your potential therapist’s methods and philosophy can help you in deciding if you feel that we are aligned with you in an approach you feel comfortable with.

At Long Beach Therapy, we utilize different modalities such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), holistic, humanistic, and internal family systems.

3. Are you active or passive therapists?

Knowing if you want a therapist who will sit back and just listen while giving validation or a therapist who is more interactive, gives feedback and tangible tools is important.

At Long Beach Therapy, we believe a combination is important.  We validate when appropriate, but also like to give feedback and tangible tools so that you feel like you have actual things you can do outside of therapy to better your life.

Ultimately, we appreciate our client’s guidance in telling us what they prefer.  If you feel like you need a little more of a listener or a little more interaction on a given therapy session, just ask so we can be there for you in the way you need us to be there for you.

4. How do you handle confidentiality?

Clients need to be able to trust that their discussions will be kept private. Knowing how a therapist handles confidentiality and the few exceptions to confidentiality (like harm to self or others) is crucial.

At Long Beach Therapy, we value confidentiality above everything because if you can’t trust us with your information, then you aren’t going to be open.  If you can’t be open, we can’t help.  We will not discuss your case with anyone without your written permission.  We will not acknowledge you are a client without your permission.

The only times we have to break your confidentiality is if you tell us about a minor or elder who is being abused (someone under the age of 18 or over the age of 65), if you want to hurt yourself or someone else physically, there is a court order for your records, or you sign a release of information.

5. What can I expect in terms of session structure and frequency?

It’s important for you to know how often therapy sessions are typically scheduled and what a typical session might look like for your particular issue. This is to help you plan your schedule and set your expectations.

At Long Beach Therapy, although most clients come in once per week, we have clients who come in every other week or once per month because of finances or a client who has a very tight schedule.  With most clients, frequency of sessions is up to the client.

On your first few sessions, you can ask your therapist what a typical session might look like for the particular issue you are coming in for.

6. What are your fees and cancellation policy?

We have our fees listed on our booking page.  Our cancellation policy: If you give more than 24 hours’ notice, you get a full refund for anything you paid.  If you give less than 24 hours’ notice, you are responsible for the full session fee.

If you are interested in booking an in person therapy appointment in Long Beach or a virtual therapy appointment, please call/text us at: 562-310-9741. You can also book an appointment using our online scheduling system by CLICKING HERE.