Initial sessions of multisession treatment have been shown to be particularly effective and to be a critical phase with benefits and symptom changes maintained thereafter. (Katie Aafjes van Dorn, Kristen Sweeny. (2019). The effectiveness of initial therapy contact: a systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 74.)

In addition to the importance of the initial phase in providing needed understanding and symptom reduction when clients are suffering the most, and providing a solid foundation for the subsequent course of the therapy, these sessions provide superb teaching opportunities.

By focusing on the initial phase or trial therapy (first sessions), we will have an ideal opportunity to explore foundational topics like psychodiagnosis, tracking multiple relevant parameters, goal setting, task agreement, choice points for differential interventions, forks in the road, exit ramps, motivation, resistance, decision trees and case formulation. By reviewing multiple first sessions, participants will gain a sense of factors common in the crucial initial phase that provide the foundation for the remainder of the therapy course. Looking at these issues in a first session is less complicated because there is no prior therapy history that influences the process. Trainees often comment that it is more helpful to see “HOW you get there” rather than just watching “BEING there.” The primary goal is to show that process in detail, including all of the variations and uncertainty involved, as it is unfolding.