How the counseling works here

Most people who ring have never done this before and have no idea what they are agreeing to. This page is what actually happens, in order.

Before the first appointment

You call, or you leave your name and number and we call you. That conversation is short and practical: what you are looking for, whether this is for you or for somebody else, what your insurance is, and when you can come. You do not have to explain the whole thing to a person answering a phone.

The first appointment

Longer than the ones that follow, and mostly about getting to know you. Ann Marie will ask what brought you in, what has already been tried, what your life actually looks like week to week, and what you would like to be different. You will be asked about risk, plainly and without drama, because it would be careless not to.

You are not required to tell the worst of it on the first day. Some people do, and that is fine. Others take three months to get to it, and that is fine too.

Making a plan

By the end of the first appointment or the second one there is usually a rough plan: what you are working on, what that will involve, and roughly how often you will come. It is written down, it is yours, and it changes when it needs to. If what you need turns out to be something this practice does not do, you will be told that early rather than three months in.

What sessions are like

Sessions are 30 or 60 minutes. Conversation, mostly. Practical work in between where that helps, and no homework for its own sake. With young children a session looks different again: play is how a small child processes, so that is the medium, and parents are usually part of the work rather than left in the waiting room.

Nothing is rushed to fit a timetable, and nobody is pushed faster because a plan said so.

Working with the people around you

With your written permission, Ann Marie can work alongside the other people involved: a school, an IEP or 504 meeting, a medical team. Without your written permission, nothing is shared. That is not a formality; it is how the confidence in the room is kept.

About medication

Ann Marie is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She does not prescribe medication. Some people do better with medication alongside counseling, and if that looks likely we will help you talk to your doctor and, with your written permission, work alongside them.

How it ends

Deliberately, and preferably by agreement. A good ending is a conversation about what changed, what to watch for, and what to do if it comes back. Plenty of people finish and return years later for something else. That is a normal use of counseling and not a failure of the first round.

What this practice is, and is not

This is an outpatient counseling office with weekday hours. It is not an emergency service, and messages sent through this site are not monitored out of hours. If you need somebody tonight, the numbers are on the crisis page and in the footer of every page here.