Hello everyone. Quick update "forevertogether" and I are doing much better.I have my first individual counseling session with therapist we trust next week.

My questions today are... we have our first session with Steve Harley scheduled for Thursday. We are both wondering what to expect during first session? What happens in subsequent sessions? What are the biggest things you old timers got out of the sessions? How long and ofter did you counsel with him?

If any of you remember my W and my posts...we are progressing pretty well through recovery..accomplished lots of insights on our own.

After all SH charges quite a bit and not covered by insurance.

By the way...our copy of Torn Asunder arrives tomorrow...I hope it's as good as it sounds (based on what I've read here).

All thoughts regarding SH greatly appreciated we are anxious and have high hopes/expectations.

Happy New Year!

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I am not in recovery but was very glad that I had sessions with Steve. It gave me a sense of direction as there are always so many avenues to take. It gave me focus. He answered all of my questions and asked me some questions that really made me think. (That was a good thing)

Steve went very slow with WH (who only had one session which wasn't Steve's fault.) We havn't made it into recovery but I am still thankful even tho it cost out of pocket $ for me as well.

Hope this helps - Let us know how it goes
D.

Thank you WGTT.My W and I are really looking forward to our session.We feel like we have done alot on our own but we are ready to have someone lead to full recovery.Did the session help your WH?As I am the WS there are questions about this that I haven't been able to answer.Thanks again.

One problem with high expectations is that they are easier to disappoint. It might make sense to go in without such high hopes if for no other reason than to allow a better chance of being pleasantly surprised.

I've had 5-6 sessions so far, and the first one was the most disappointing. Relatively speaking of course. Oh, and having a relapse of the A right after didn't help much either.

FWIW, my sessions broke out this way:

1st - false recovery? 5 min joint, 20 min me, 20 min WS. Confirming understanding of MB principles and Steve asking revealing questions. Assigning questionaire homework - which didn't get done.
2nd-5th - individual sessions going through Plan A/B stages
6th - ind 15 min (recap since last session) / FWS 45 min (laying out recovery plan, assigning questionaire homework, understanding feelings and how they affect perception / hope, talking about conditional love)

I would suggest that helping SH be clear on what aspects of recovery are going well so that too much time isn't spent on stuff going well. But letting SH ask his questions to verify those aspects. Also, if you ask your questions, you can be pretty sure that SH has a consistent answer.

It seems that a lot of posters have a Thursday appointment w/ SH (myself included) and since it doesn't seem people usually mention the day they have scheduled, I thought that was a bit weird.

<small>[ December 31, 2002, 01:29 PM: Message edited by: est ]</small>