What Happens During Your First Therapy Session?

Your first therapy session

(aka “Intake Assessment”)

Understand what goes on during your Intake Assessment at Annabelle Psychology

Your first therapy session with your psychologist is called an Intake Assessment or simply, Intake.

Intake is a session for your psychologist to understand you as a person and discuss the issues that have brought you to therapy. It is vital that the Intake takes place in a safe, private, and non-judgemental space. Your psychologist may also ask you questions about the personal information that you filled in your intake form prior to the Intake session.

Through guided conversation, your psychologist will develop an understanding of your concerns and other underlying factors and explore relevant background or history; for example, information about your family, social relationships, work history or any past counselling that you have done. With the information you share, your psychologist works with you to craft a collaborative and flexible plan for future therapy sessions. Bring a notepad to record the discussions that occur during your session.

Intake sessions run for 90 minutes. If the concerns or the issues you face are complex, your psychologist may request that you extend your Intake session or return on another day.

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What is Art Therapy?

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art as a means of communication. An alternative to verbal communication, art serves as the medium through which individuals express themselves.

Does Art Therapy Work?

In a word: yes. Art therapy is an evidence-based management modality that is effective and has demonstrated clinical effects in the management of mental disorders and reducing the effects of symptoms.

Art therapy has been shown to benefit adults, adolescents, and children, experiencing mental health challenges stemming from anxiety and depression to complex trauma.

 

What does Art Therapy address?

A wide spectrum of mental and emotional disorders, such as anxiety, complex trauma, depression, mood disorders, personality disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Art therapy can also be used to instil personal growth, improving communication, coping and problem-solving skills, as well as enhancing self-awareness, and emotional resilience.

Art therapy is used as a complementary psychotherapy management plan alongside other management modalities. Art therapy helps clients to address trauma and/or other complex psychological concerns which might be difficult to express verbally in talk therapy. It is not meant to be diagnostic, but rather, is a medium to address emotional issues which may be confusing or distressing in a safe way.

Self-expression through artistic creation is therapeutic for individuals who are on a journey to discover more about their authentic self and personalities. Art therapy allows individuals to explore their emotions, improve self-esteem, relieve stress, improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, or cope with physical illness.

 

What does an Art Therapist do?

Art therapists are mental health professionals with a master’s degree, trained to use art media, the creative process, and the resulting artwork to help people express their emotions and thoughts, explore their identity, and develop social skills.

Utilising creative modalities such as drawing, painting, colouring, collages, or sculpting, individuals are encouraged to express themselves without the fear of being judged or criticized.

Together with the client, an art therapist facilitates the understanding of underlying meanings and messages behind the art, bringing clarification of the individual’s feelings or emotions and allowing them to access core conflicts and resolve various struggles.

Art therapists work with people of all ages, from children to adults.

 

What if I have no artistic creativity?

You don't need any prior experience or knowledge of art to benefit from art therapy.

In the same way one does not need to be a psychologist to undergo psychotherapy, one does not need to be an artist (or possess any form of artistic talent really) to experience art therapy.

The quality of the resultant art is unimportant – what matters is the process of creation. The art therapist then guides an individual through a reflective process to interpret the resultant messages, symbols, and psychological associations between the art and the client’s individual experiences.

The art therapist is trained in the ways of colour, texture, and art medium used in therapy that may express the thoughts and emotions that their client is portraying. 

Art therapy is suitable for people of all ages and abilities, and no prior experience or artistic talent is required.

 

What happens in an art therapy session?

An art therapy session will typically begin with both parties: therapist and client, getting to know each other, building a therapeutic relationship as a foundation for growth and therapy. A variety of art media is provided in an art therapy session; an art therapist will guide you through different characteristics of art media such as pencil, chalks, charcoals, colour pencils, pastels, markers, paints, clay, etc. This is for you to identity and choose a medium/media that is most suitable to express your feelings and thoughts and even to access unconscious psychological materials.

There will be an immersion (otherwise known as flow) in the process of art making, which is therapeutic in and of itself. In the beginning phase of therapy, the art therapist might guide you through a set of directives in order for you to ease into a creative process, and also for the therapist to learn about your fluency in symbol making and insights on your core conflicts.

When the artwork is completed, which could be done in a single session or over a few sessions depending on the depth and complexity, the art therapist will engage you in therapeutic dialogues to facilitate reflections and insight-building based on symbolic expressions in your artwork.

Typically, weekly art therapy sessions are recommended at the start, but as therapy progresses, you can discuss with your art therapist to find a frequency and regularity that best suit your needs.

Art therapy is particularly beneficial for the following mental and emotional disorders and difficulties:

 ADULTS

  • Abuse (including physical, verbal, and emotional)

  • Addiction

  • Anger management

  • Anxiety / Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

  • Changes in family dynamics

  • Chronic illness / Palliative care

  • Coping with transitions or life changes

  • Depression

  • Eating disorders

  • Grief and loss

  • Low self esteem

  • Personality/Mood disorders

  • Trauma

  • Work/life stress

CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

  • Adoption

  • Anger management

  • Anxiety / Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

  • Attachment issues

  • Behavioural issues

  • Bullying

  • Childhood depression

  • Chronic illness / Palliative care

  • Eating disorders

  • Gender identity

  • Grief and loss

  • Low self-esteem

  • Parents who are separated or divorced

  • Physical challenges (such as a loss of mobility, paralysis, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida)

  • School stress

  • Selective mutism

  • Social skills

  • Special needs and Learning Difficulties such as: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Asperger Syndrome (AS), Attention Deficit Disorder & Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS), Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, sensory issues and speech challenges

  • Transitions (e.g. moving to a new school, or country etc.

  • Trauma 

What is a Child Psychologist or Educational Psychologist?

Child Psychologists are specially trained to assess and evaluate neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adults. They are usually used to describe an Educational Psychologist or a Clinical Psychologist specialising in children.

Child Psychologists use their specialist knowledge to assess, diagnose and provide psychological interventions to children, young persons and adults on concerns regarding their learning or academic performance, behavioural, social and emotional development. Because their work involves a deep understanding of developmental issues across a person’s lifespan, they may also provide developmental assessments across the range of ages from the child, adolescent and adult populations.

Simply put, Child Psychologists identify and provide psychological interventions to learning or developmental concerns.


For example, Child Psychologists assess for and identify, and provide psychological interventions to learning or developmental concerns such as Intellectual Developmental Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, or Specific Learning Disorder (known as Dyslexia for reading impairments or Dyscalculia for math impairments). They also administer Psychometric Assessments such as verbal and non-verbal measures of intelligence, behavioural scales and ratings, and Functional Behavioural Analysis measures (FBA).

High quality early intervention from an experienced Child Psychologist can change a child’s developmental trajectory and improve outcomes for that child and his or her family.


For intervention to yield the best results, Child Psychologists work closely with children and their parents, teachers and other allied health professionals (such as Speech Therapists and Occupational Therapists) to deliver evidence-based psychological interventions for learning and developmental problems.

If you have concerns that your child may need a Child Psychologist, our child psychologists are happy to discuss your concerns with you.

Ask for a call back from one of our Child Psychologists to find out more.


A Multi-disciplinary Approach

Children with neurodevelopmental concerns will often require assessment and intervention by other Allied Health Practitioners. Neurodevelopmental concerns such as Autism Spectrum Disorder often impact psychological, speech, sensory and motor functions. Intervention achieves the best outcomes when delivered as part of a multidisciplinary team comprising paediatricians, speech therapists, occupational therapists and psychologists.

Continuing Therapy

Continuing Therapy

(“psychotherapy” -
works best if you follow through!)

Therapy will be different for everyone.

During Intake and through the course of therapy, your psychologist and you will jointly formulate and refine your management plan based on the information you provide.

It is therefore important that you share information that you feel may be relevant to your concerns. This is because therapy is a collaborative management plan based on the relationship between your needs as an individual and your psychologist.

We call this the Therapeutic Alliance.

Grounded in dialogue, psychotherapy is at its most effective when you participate fully in your sessions. Your psychologist will provide a supportive environment for you to share thorny or difficult issues with someone who’s objective, neutral and non-judgemental. You and your psychologist will work together as a team to identify and change the thought and behaviour patterns that are keeping you from feeling your best.

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You can be completely honest with your psychologist without concern that anyone else will know what you revealed.

The therapeutic relationship is a confidential one (subject to a few legal exceptions: for example, if you threaten to harm yourself or someone else, or by court order). At your request, information we collect about you can be shared with other medical or mental health professionals.

By the end of management plan, you may have learned new skills to better cope not only with the problem that brought you in, but with whatever challenges that may arise in the future.

Therapy sessions typically run for 60 minutes. During session, your psychologist may perform necessary tasks such as schedule your follow-up consultations, discuss or vary your management plan, or seek or communicate important information with persons you authorise us to do so.

It is very important that you do not feel that these tasks are a “waste of consultation time”, as they enable us to provide you with an effective psychological service.

So how many sessions does it take for me to feel better?

This is a difficult question to answer. But we can share with you some of the factors that affect the duration and frequency of the sessions. Typically, this depends on
Ψ the complexity of issues
Ψ how long you wait before seeking help
Ψ how frequent you turn up for session
Ψ whether you “complete your homework”

By way of example (and only as a guideline), persons who present with straightforward depression or anxiety typically take at least 10 to 15 sessions before they feel well enough to request for discharge. More complex issues such as Personality Disorders may take years.

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How to Choose a Psychologist

Each of us will face certain difficulties or stressors at some point in our lives. We may struggle to cope with overwhelming feelings or problems that seem beyond our control. During such times, a trained, licensed psychologist could be a guiding hand in helping us better manage our thoughts and feelings. It would then be crucial to find a psychologist you feel comfortable with to confide about personal woes or uncomfortable topics you may not typically share with others.

Do I need to see a psychologist?

Can you even go for therapy without having a mental disorder? The answer is yes, definitely. These questions are common and perfectly normal (if only we received a penny each time someone asked us this). Therapy can be beneficial even for those without diagnoses. You could learn different perspectives, process critical life events, identify explanations for behaviour, alter unhealthy or ineffective habits or patterns, and so on.

But how do you know when you should go for therapy? The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests considering therapy when an event or situation causes distress and interferes with some aspect of your life. For example, when an event leaves you feeling embarrassed or wanting to avoid others. Or perhaps it has negatively affected your concentration in school or at work, and your quality of life has been reduced. If this occurs often and for an extended period of time, it may be time to consider therapy.

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Will seeing a psychologist help me?

Anxiety, resistance and doubts are common, especially with therapy being a novel concept for many. However, therapy has been shown to be beneficial for mental health and wellbeing. Some of its benefits include improved relationships and communication skills, learning healthy coping strategies to manage distress, cultivating healthy thought patterns and greater awareness of unhelpful thoughts, as well as gaining greater insights about your life. Remember that prevention is better than cure. Don’t wait until life gets too overwhelming to ask for help! Seeking help early from a trained professional, such as a psychologist, could lead you to a healthier and more fulfilled life sooner.

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Okay, so maybe now you are kind of convinced you want to start seeing a therapist. How do you pick? What can you look out for with just their biography or picture? How do you  know if the psychologist will be a good fit for you? How do you even know if they are qualified?  

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with some handy tips to aid your quest in finding the “right” psychologist: 

1. Credentials 

A qualified clinical or counselling psychologist in Singapore would have attained an accredited postgraduate qualification, i.e., a Master’s Degree majoring in a specialisation of psychology or a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. As part of professional training, supervised clinical placements are completed in various hospital or organised health settings. Rest assured that psychologists are required to gain practicum experience, training and supervision before practicing independently. Additionally, psychologists should be licensed by the state or country they practice in. For instance, the organisation overseeing registered psychologists in Singapore is known as the Singapore Register of Psychologists (SRP).

Moreover, as new ideas and therapeutic approaches emerge over the years, psychologists must stay abreast by regularly attending seminars, receiving clinical supervision, reviewing evidence-based research findings as well as consulting and sharing knowledge with colleagues.

2. Areas of Experience & Development

Psychological sub-specialisations should also be looked at when evaluating a psychologist. You would usually find this information in their biography. Take time to read through a psychologist’s bio to learn about their past experiences working with clients of varying mental health concerns. Doing so provides glimpses of their therapeutic approach, types of therapy they are trained in, and the mental disorders they have experience with.

For example, if you are bringing your child to see a psychologist, you may wish to look for one who has extensive experience working with children or who specialises in children’s mental or developmental disorders. Ideally, it would be best to look for a psychologist that can provide the type of therapy that is the most beneficial for your specific concerns.

3. The Therapeutic Alliance

Also known as the 'therapeutic relationship’, the therapeutic alliance describes the collaborative relationship between the individual and therapist. There are three essential elements:

  1. Bond between the client and the therapist

  2. Agreement on therapeutic goals

  3. Collaboration on tasks in management plan

Many studies highlighted that this therapeutic relationship is vital for good management outcomes. Yet, establishing a good therapeutic relationship isn’t as easy as it sounds. A willingness to work and cooperate collaboratively is a key factor in developing the relationship. A psychologist’s ability to listen attentively and communicate empathetically is also crucial in building trust. Just like any other relationship, trust can be easily affected. This is why psychologists are very careful in preventing any potential breaches in trust. It then comes as no surprise that the ‘right’ psychologist for you should be capable of working with you, not for you or anyone else.

4. Demographic factors 

Certain demographic characteristics may be important to you when it comes to feeling safe with a psychologist. Some common examples are age and gender. This may be due in part to past experiences with other therapists, or from triggering or traumatic experiences. At the end of the day, the best management outcomes come from being able to openly discuss personal matters, perspectives and beliefs with your psychologist. A demographic preference is understandable and common.

What if my psychologist isn't a good match?  

While changing psychologists regularly is not beneficial to the therapeutic process, you can and should consider changing psychologists if your psychologist does not establish a comfortable rapport with you after several sessions. 

It is generally helpful to talk openly with your psychologist about the lack of connection, or to raise any issue that may be hindering the therapeutic relationship. Don’t worry; psychologists do not find this directness to be offensive or disrespectful.

The aim of therapy is to understand the issues that bother you. This can only be achieved through a relationship of safety and trust. Our psychologists will listen to your feedback and address the issues that arise during the management plan. This can include issues in the therapeutic relationship. Although it is unlikely that a psychologist will be a good fit for every individual, remember that relationships do take time to grow and interpersonal challenges appear from time to time. Alternatively, your psychologist can also refer you to someone who is suited to your needs if you have made the decision to switch psychologists.   

We cannot guarantee that the right psychologist is right round the corner, but keeping the tips above in mind would at least help you in finding a qualified psychologist. We hope that you feel less daunted in your journey, and if you want to check out our own psychologists, feel free to click here.  

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