The first thing you need to be aware of when beginning counseling or therapy is the need to arrive on time. Counselors and therapists work to a strict schedule, often with a minimal amount of time between clients. Sessions last for 50 minutes. If you arrive late for a session, the therapist will still finish that session at the scheduled time. If you arrive early, I do not have a waiting room, you’ll need to hold on until your allotted time, since there’s a good chance the therapist will be working with someone else.
Once in the room, your therapist is responsible for keeping time. If you’ve never had a counseling or therapy session before, 50 minutes may seem like an age beforehand. In reality, you’ll likely to find time flies by – you’ll just be warming up, only to hear your therapist saying, “I’m afraid we’re out of time, so we need to finish for today.” It can sometimes feel very difficult to be cut off in the middle of a chain of thought/feeling, but your therapist will be in the same place at the same time next week. If you need to, spend a little time in a quiet place before rushing on to the next thing in your busy day.