Before your first session, expect to arrive about 30 minutes early to complete initial paperwork. The self-report questions provide your counselor with a context for the reason(s) that are bringing you to counseling. One of the primary goals of the first session is to orient you to the counseling process. You can take as much time as needed to make sure you understand the counseling process. Starting with your first session, your counselor will go through with you a fairly structured interview. Your counselor needs to ask enough questions in order to consider all the different factors that may be bringing you to counseling.
