Clinical Psychologist in Bellevue WA: Setting Up For Success

A clinical psychologist in Bellevue, Washington can help you enhance your relationships and work to resolve multiple types of problems. With therapeutic programs such as couple’s counseling and anger resolution, a qualified clinician can identify potentially problematic behavior or communication patterns and construct a treatment strategy to help you utilize your strengths and identify new skills. But before you make your first appointment with a clinical psychologist, there are a few things you can do to get the most out of your sessions. Listed below are a few items you may want to try prior to scheduling your initial consultation.

Write, Write, Write

One of the best things you can do is to identify the key events and primary stressors in your life. Instead of going into your first appointment with a local clinician with general complaints, having a targeted list of problems that you would like to address will guide your chosen clinical psychologist to the issues that you find burdensome. Always keep a small notebook handy so that you can write your feelings down in the moment. Relying on memory alone will leave out the majority of the critical details that may—or may not—be of consequence during therapy sessions. Try to be as detailed as you can in your written assessment by using these tips:

·       Pay close attention to your physical feelings when your emotional responses are high. Sometimes strong emotions such as anger and stress will cause autonomic responses throughout your body that your therapist may need to be aware of.

·       Try to describe the situation right after an incident that triggers you as completely as you can. Then after a few hours, re-evaluate the event with a cooler head.

·       Explore as much of the situation as you can from as many different viewpoints as possible. Include any lead up events that you can identify; however, this should be done objectively. Try writing down just the order of events without any emotions tied to them.

·       Honesty is the only policy when it comes to therapy. The clinical psychologist you select will need the unadulterated truth, no matter how unflattering it is to anyone in a given situation. The more upfront you can be with your therapist, the easier it will be to suggest coping mechanisms and alternative ways of dealing with certain situations.

Additionally, if you are interested in couple’s counseling, you will want to encourage your partner to use these same steps to prepare for an initial session.

Information Gathering

Another helpful activity you can do ahead of time is make sure you have all pertinent information for billing purposes gathered up and in one place for your first appointment. Make sure that if you have insurance that covers mental health treatment, the clinical psychologist in Bellevue, Washington that you have chosen accepts that type of coverage you have.

You can also request to fill out the new patient questionnaire and any other materials ahead of time by speaking with a clinical psychologist’s office staff members. If you complete the financial forms and assessment paperwork before your appointment, you can be certain that your needs will be met and that your insurance carrier will cover your visit.

For more information about getting the most out of a treatment path with a qualified clinical psychologist in Bellevue WA, please click on the provided link to review one of the local industry experts. You can also call (425) 451-2116 with any questions you may have about couple’s counseling or individual therapy.