Question 1

Does psychotherapy work?

Accepted Answer

The short answer: yes. In research, psychotherapy has been found to be effective for a wide variety of concerns, and the majority of people who engage in psychotherapy experience improvement in their symptoms. This does not mean that all of your symptoms or concerns will completely disappear after participating in therapy, but it does mean that more likely than not, you will feel significantly better. If you are unsure if therapy is right for you, feel free to contact me in order to schedule a free phone consultation so that we can talk more about whether therapy might be helpful in your specific situation.

Question 2

Do you offer in-person sessions? What about online sessions?

Accepted Answer

At this time, I am not offering in-person sessions; all of my work is via telepsychology.  In particular, most of my work occurs through videoconferencing (i.e., virtual sessions). For more information on virtual sessions, please read through the "Telepsychology" section of the FAQ page.

Question 3

How many sessions will I need?

Accepted Answer

The number of sessions required for a person to address their concerns can vary quite dramatically. Many concerns can be addressed with a brief therapy approach (i.e., 10 to 20 sessions). With that said, some people prefer to stay in therapy for longer in order to continue to work toward their goals. After evaluating your particular concerns, we will discuss how long you might expect to be in therapy, and we will continue to discuss this throughout your course of therapy.

Question 4

How often will sessions take place?

Accepted Answer

In my experience, I have found that clients typically benefit the most from engaging in weekly therapy. Therefore, the vast majority of the time, I meet with clients once per week for a 45 minute session. In some cases, people prefer to meet less frequently, or conversely, they may benefit from more frequent psychotherapy—if either of these situations is the case for you, we will discuss your options.

Question 5

I want to explore the possibility of working with you. What happens next?

Accepted Answer

That's great to hear! The first step would be to schedule a 15-minute phone consultation (which is free!). During this time, we'll briefly chat and ensure that potentially working together would make sense. If we both decide to move forward after the consultation, then we will schedule an initial evaluation (also known as an "intake"). During this evaluation period, I will focus on learning more about you and what brought you into therapy. I will also answer any questions that you have. When the intake process is complete (typically within one to three sessions), we will discuss the next steps. Most often, this involves coming up with a treatment plan—we will collaborate to determine what you want to accomplish in therapy and how we will help you get there.

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Foundation Psychology | Dr. Brett Swords, PhD

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