Hey Herrera Psychology Folks: What is psychotherapy?
You know how in physical therapy, a physical therapist uses special exercises and techniques to help a client decrease pain, discomfort, or increase the freedom or efficiency of movement? Psychotherapy is the same thing, just for all the stuff you can’t stretch!
Psychotherapy uses many different techniques to help people build awareness, gain insight into themselves, change unproductive behaviors, build new helpful habits, set and reach goals, and sometimes even heal the invisible hurt of worry, loneliness, or heartbreak. Therapy also helps us with our ability to communicate how we feel about things, which can allow other people in our lives (especially friends and family) respond appropriately.
Often therapy is about looking for patterns: When I think (X), I feel (Y), and I do (Z). Once you see patterns, you have the ability to think about them differently, which changes the way you feel, and gives you the energy to act in ways that help you reach your goals. Sometime starting at the other end helps: change what you do, which changes how you feel, which changes the way you think. No matter what, the goal is the same: to improve your self-esteem and your quality of life.
Hey Herrera Psychology Folks: Does it work? Like for real. Does it?
It really does. Different techniques work for different people and sometimes the client and the therapist aren’t the right fit (we’re people, it happens.) However, research has shown over and over again that the with the right tools and a supportive, trusting alliance or relationship between the client and the therapist, positive change is not just possible—it’s probable.
Sometimes, though, there are things that need to happen before that change feels like enough. Back to the person-in-environment thing again: if a person’s environment isn’t stable, safe, and predictable, real positive change can take longer and be harder to achieve.
Hey Herrera Psychology Folks: Do you tell other people what I say in therapy?
Confidentiality means that what a person says to a therapist stays in that room. It can’t be shared. If it is, a therapist gets in real trouble. With anyone under 18, a parent or legal guardian does have the right to know what was said in session. However, without trust, therapy doesn’t work and a client is a client no matter how young, so we ask that families allow space for minors to speak their minds freely. We often find that many of the private conversations become productive collaborative discussions with the whole family when the client is ready.
There are a few situations where a therapist is mandated (meaning they HAVE to) break confidentiality or share what was said in the session. Those circumstances are (1) when a client is suicidal or harming themself, (2) when a client is planning to hurt someone else, or (3) when a client is experiencing abuse or neglect. We have deep respect for any client who shares their pain at this level and we do everything in our power to make sure that we are disclosing the information in a way that is kind, without judgement, and focused entirely on safety.
Hey Herrera Psychology Folks: Do you prescribe medicine?
We don’t prescribe medicine.. Psychiatrists are medical doctors, which means they are the ones who prescribe medication, such as stimulants for ADHD and SSRI’s for anxiety or depression. Psychologists can be doctors of psychology, which means they are trained to test and evaluate clients, but they do not have the medical training to prescribe medication. We are psychologists and clinical social workers which means we are licensed to do psycho-educational testing, diagnose where necessary, and provide direct psychotherapy to humans. This is fortunate because humans are our speciality.
Hey Herrera Psychology Folks: What can I expect from my first session?
Good question! The first session in therapy is usually called the “intake.” The goal of the intake is for the therapist to take in as much as they can about the client and for the client to take in as much as they can about the therapist. We’ll use the first session to discuss the issue that brought you in, the change you’d like to see, your expectations for me as you therapist, and our shared expectations for each other as a team. We’ll probably ask lots of questions and make a few hilarious (but extremely tasteful) jokes. Clients generally find that just talking through the issue and putting their goals into words can be a positive experience that leaves them with a little more hope than they had before the session. However, we like to make sure that we end each session with a strategy or technique for a client to experiment with before our next meeting. While the therapy is far more about the process than any one strategy, we find that it often helps to have something specific to try or work on between sessions. We’ll also make sure we have your “informed consent” for treatment.
Hey Herrera Psychology Folks: You just said “Informed Consent”—what is that?
Informed Consent means that the client has a clear understanding of what they are getting into with therapy and are agreeing to participate in the process. Informed consent isn’t just a one-time thing, either. It (like everything in therapy) is an ongoing process. As things change, new topics or goals introduced, and the therapy because deeper and more complex, it becomes even more important that clients feel that they still have a solid understanding of the process, their rights as a client, the potential risks of the work, and any alternative treatments that might be available to them. We will get your informed consent during the first session, but we will continue to refresh that consent as we move along to make sure you always know your voice—supportive, questioning, or critical—is always encouraged.
Hey Herrera Psychology Folks: Can we do therapy remotely?
Yes! At Herrera Psychology, we use a HIPPA compliant browser-based tele-therapy service called Thera-Link.
Not only does Thera-Link allow for truly private distance therapy, it also removes the hassle of having to download and install anything onto your computer. If you prefer to use a smartphone, Thera-LINK offers a free downloadable app that lets you access the platform directly.
Hey Herrera Psychology Folks: Will you come to my birthday party?
Whoa. We’re honored. That is a big deal! What should we wear? We’ve got this top hat with feathers and a long coat and…oh… wait…ugh. Actually, we can’t. As therapists, we have all of these boundaries and stuff in place to make sure that talking to us is different than talking to friends, families, coaches, or even teachers. That means we don’t hang out with our clients and if we see a them in public we wait for them to wave before we wave—it’s not that we want to pretend we don’t know you or that we wouldn’t love to celebrate your birthday (we hear your parties are legendary), but because we know that therapy works best when your therapist is your therapist: someone you can be open, authentic, honest with.
We will, however, accept left-over cookie cake. I mean…come on…it’s cookie cake.
