What to expect

When you arrive for an appointment, you can park in our designated parking lot right off of Lucon Road. Once entering the building, feel free to get yourself a drink (coffee, tea, or water is available) and take a seat in the waiting room. Your therapist will greet you in the waiting room whenever they are ready.

Usually the first session is what we like to call the “Meet and Greet” session. In this session we go over all the paperwork and make sure to answer any other questions you have about therapy, your therapist, and whatever else you may wish to know. We then spend the time getting to know you as a person, as well as learning about what is bringing you in to therapy. The first couple of sessions are where we look at what is going on. This includes what resources you have to draw from, what challenges you are facing, and what goals you have. Lastly, we then begin working toward accomplishing those goals and helping you find the relief that you are seeking.

Typically, each session lasts about 50 minutes long. You have a lot of say in how long the sessions go, though, so you can ask for a longer session, if you would like. In the case of a longer session, it would be arranged ahead of time and the fee may change depending on the time allotted for you.

While there might be some similarities to talking with a friend, speaking with a counselor is helpful in a number of very specific ways that a typical friend would not offer. A close friend is often instrumental in helping you through a hard time. What I have found is that having the support of both friends and family as well as a trained professional can sometimes be the “one-two punch” that allows you to move through your struggles and reach your goals.

A counselor is specifically trained and experienced in attending to you from a non-judgmental, uncritical, and non-biased perspective. Your interactions are completely confidential. This gives you the chance to say whatever you would like to say without fear of losing a friendship or other opportunity. (There are some exceptions to confidentiality, which I go over with you in our first meeting.) Secondly, a counselor has training in areas of psychology that can help you to work through your roadblocks. This is something that a typical friend probably has not learned on their own. Lastly, helping people work through their struggles is what counselors do professionally - they have made it their passion to focus on helping others and do their very best to stay up-to-date on training and growth to serve you as best they can.

All therapists at Compass Counseling Center hold to the Christian faith and are therefor able to include Christian faith values in therapy. We recognize that within Christianity there are differences of opinion on certain matters, and we make it clear that faith is involved only to the extent and in the way that is most beneficial for each client - never in a pushy or dogmatic way. You as the client always have the say on how your faith is included.

Not a Christian? No problem. While our therapists hold their personal beliefs, we are all fully trained in evidence-based models proven to work in many environments and with many types of clients. If faith is something that you do not want to include in your therapy, your choice will be respected, no questions asked. You will still receive excellent therapy in the way that best fits you.