Faq | Open Journey Psychology Clinic

How long is each therapy session?

Each session typically runs for 50 minutes, unless otherwise discussed and agreed upon.

How frequent should sessions be?

This is something to be discussed with your psychologist. Typically, the recommended frequency would be weekly or fortnightly to ensure continuity between sessions and maintain therapeutic progress. Towards the end of the therapy journey, sessions can be spaced further apart to serve as booster sessions.

What can I expect at the first session?

Therapy begins with an intake assessment, which may sometimes take up more than 1 session. The purpose of this intake is to introduce you to the nature of psychotherapy, understand you as an individual, the issues you are experiencing, and what you want to work on.

It it important to note that psychotherapy is not short-term in nature, and definitely not a 'quick-fix'. At times, individuals come to therapy hoping to seek answers or to feel better after just one session. This is oftentimes not possible, given time constraints and the scope of information needed to understand you better before being able to provide you with guidance and help.

How many sessions are needed?

This varies between individuals, but typically a minimum of 5-6 sessions is required for individuals to experience any therapeutic benefits and breakthrough. Your psychologist will check in with you regularly to ensure that we are on track to meeting your therapy goals.

How can I prepare for my first session?

You can consider preparing the following to share:

Reasons for seeking therapy
Goals for therapy; how you would like therapy to help you
Any questions about therapy
Anything you think is important for your psychologist to know

Please also understand that while therapy aims to help individuals feel better, not every therapy session will be a feel-good session since we will sometimes be exploring painful topics.

It is normal to feel anxious prior to your first therapy session. Although it can be difficult to open up about your struggles and vulnerabilities with a stranger, rest assured that your psychologist will do what he or she can to provide you with a safe and non-judgmental space.

Your psychologist is also another individual facing her own struggles, but however trained to provide others with guidance and support. Consider this Two Mountains Metaphor quoted from Twohig, M. (2004). Imagine that the patient and psychologist are on 2 separate mountains. And from where the psychologist is on his or her mountain, he or she can see things on the patient's mountain that the patient cannot see - like what is the alternative pathway to take or if there is an impending landslide.Thus, being able to provide you with guidance from the different perspective he or she has. However, your psychologist is also climbing her own mountain and learning alongside you to climb more effectively and enjoy climbing.

What happens in subsequent sessions?

Depending on your therapy goals, sessions would focus on mainly 2 things: 1) any issue you are currently facing that you want to talk about or need help with and 2) issues related to the main therapy goals.

What is expected of me in therapy?

It is important for individuals to commit to attending therapy sessions regularly and participating actively in therapy sessions.

While your psychologist is there to guide you, you are in driver's seat and in-charge of steering your life in the direction you want to go.

For individuals with eating disorders, a very low BMI may interfere with one being able to participate actively in therapy. As such, it is recommended that individuals seek therapy when they attained a minimum BMI of 14.0.

Do I need to see a psychiatrist to see a psychologist?

No, it is not a requirement to see a psychiatrist. However, pharmacotherapy can work hand-in-hand with psychotherapy to render the best therapeutic effects and hence your psychologist may sometimes recommend seeing a psychiatrist.

Please note that a multi-disciplinary approach is recommended for individuals with eating disorders. As such, seeing a psychiatrist and other healthcare professionals with expertise in eating disorders is highly recommended.