My First Therapy Session: What I Wish Someone Had Told Me

I was more anxious about my first therapy session than I had been about most things that had actually gone wrong in my life.

I worried I would cry too much. Or not enough. I worried the therapist would find me boring, or too broken, or not broken enough to deserve their attention.

What I found: a quiet room, a kind person, and the unexpected relief of being asked, without any agenda, how I was doing.

Therapy is not a performance. Your therapist is not grading you. They have heard everything. They are not shocked by your thoughts, your patterns, or your history. They are simply there — professionally, thoughtfully, consistently — to help you understand yourself.

The hardest part is making the first appointment. After that, it is just a conversation. And conversations, however hard, can change things.