Taking the First Step: What to Expect When You Seek Therapy

Reaching out for help isn’t always easy, but healing, growth, and change often start with a single step. If you're considering therapy, here’s what you can expect along the way and how we walk with you from day one.

1. Recognizing Something Needs to Change

Therapy often begins when something in life feels overwhelming — anxiety, low mood, difficulty sleeping, relationship stress, or the unhealed effects of past experiences. These feelings might show up subtly: restless nights, worry that won’t quit, or feeling stuck in the same patterns.

You don’t need a dramatic crisis to benefit from therapy. Sometimes, it’s simply the sense that you’re not living as fully or as freely as you'd like. That’s more than enough reason.

2. Finding “Your Fit”

At Turning Point, we believe the relationship with your therapist is central. It means you feel safe, seen, and understood. We encourage you to explore therapist bios, consider style, gender, experience, and therapeutic approaches to find someone who feels like a good match.

During your first sessions, you’ll get a chance to see how you connect. You might feel nervous; that’s completely normal. We use that time to get to know you, clarify what you want to work on, and touch on what healing means for you. You don’t need to have everything figured out—you just need the willingness to begin.

3. Assessment & Goal Setting

In early sessions, your therapist will gather information—your history, what brings you here now, strengths, relationships, and possibly patterns of thought or behavior that get in the way. Together, we’ll talk about realistic goals: what you want to see change or improve.

These goals are flexible. As you go through therapy, sometimes new priorities emerge. Therapy isn’t a rigid plan—it’s collaborative and responsive to your evolving experience.

4. Choosing Therapeutic Methods

Turning Point offers a variety of therapy types so that we can match you with approaches that best suit your needs. Some of the methods we use include:

• Trauma-informed therapy

• EMDR

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

• Solution-Focused Therapy

• Creative modalities like art or sand tray therapy

Your therapist will talk with you about what different approaches might feel like, and together you’ll decide what feels most helpful and safe.

5. Consistency Matters—And So Does Space

Healing takes time. Progress isn’t always linear—some weeks you’ll feel more hopeful, other weeks more frustrated. That’s normal. What matters most is consistency: showing up for your sessions, doing any “homework” or reflection, being patient with yourself.

Also, allow for space between sessions to notice what’s shifting: the ways you think differently, how your mood changes, the small moments where you use new tools or respond with something new. These are signs of growth.

6. Safety, Confidentiality, Empowerment

We commit to creating a safe and respectful setting for you. That includes:

• Confidentiality, so you can speak freely

• Trauma-informed care: understanding that past hurts shape the present, and that healing is a process

• Empowerment: you decide what issues to focus on, at what pace, and what feels right

You are not just a patient of symptoms—you are a whole person, and your voice matters in guiding your therapy.

7. What You’ll Gain — Healing, Clarity, Resilience

While every person’s journey is different, many clients experience:

• Greater clarity about what they want and need

• Tools for managing stress, anxiety, relationships

• Increased sense of safety and control in their lives

• Stronger resilience: ability to face challenges, bounce back, adapt

Therapy doesn’t always “fix” everything immediately, but it gives you resources, support, and a path forward that feels more connected to your values and hopes.

8. How to Take That First Step with Turning Point

• Reach out to us via phone or our contact form to schedule a consultation.

• Choose whether in-person or online therapy works best for your life. We offer both in our Virginia Beach & Chesapeake offices, plus telehealth.

• We will verify your insurance or you can explore our self-pay options if needed. We aim to make therapy accessible! Learn more here.

You don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. Therapy is not just for moments of crisis—it’s for anyone who wants more peace, more clarity, more resilience. At Turning Point Counseling & Consulting, we’re here to walk alongside you. If you’re considering therapy, know this: seeking help is a strength. Your Turning Point might be just one brave decision away.