Your Therapy Questions Answered: What to Expect and How to Start
Starting your therapy journey
Thinking about starting therapy can bring up a lot of questions — and that’s completely normal. Understanding what to expect can help you feel more confident taking that first step toward emotional healing.
For many of the client’s I work with, children of immigrants and men, it is their first time in therapy. Here are a few of the common questions I encounter at Le Therapy.
Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy
1. What can therapy help with?
Therapy can help with many topics - I specifically support clients with anxiety, stress, self-esteem, trauma, and major life transitions.
At Le Therapy, I work with adults navigating the pressures of identity, culture, and belonging. Particularly first-generation adults, adopted individuals, and men of color who feel caught between worlds or expectations.
Therapy helps you understand your patterns, understand your needs, and help you own or change parts of you to feel more aligned to you.
2. How do I know if therapy is right for me?
Honestly - I do not think everyone needs therapy, however I do think everyone could benefit from therapy. If you’ve noticed patterns of stress, overthinking, or emotional exhaustion that keep repeating, therapy can help you understand why they’re happening and what you can do about it.
You don’t need to wait until things are “bad enough.” Therapy works best as a space for exploration, and that occurs best when you are not in crisis.
3. What happens in the first therapy session?
The first few sessions of therapy with me, usually around 3 sessions, is getting to know you. The first session is typically focused on how your symptoms have been impacting you. Their history, intensity, and you perspective of them. Then we learn more about how you became you - family relationships, childhood experiences, and trauma history. Lastly, we develop our treatment goals and how we plan on achieving them through therapy and skill development.
4. How often should I go to therapy?
I start all my clients out on a weekly basis to really build rapport and establish our therapeutic relationship. As we build that foundation and you begin to gain more insight on your needs and behaviors we explore readiness to transition to bi-weekly sessions.
Eventually client’s move to monthly sessions and eventually graduation, or as I like to call it the application phase of therapy.
5. How long does therapy last?
There is not set timeline that works for everyone. I have had clients with me for about 6 months and others for over 2 years. The length of therapy is dependent on your needs, goals, and pace. Therapy happens in the open system of life so it is hard to give accurate estimates.
6. What’s the difference between therapy and talking to friends?
Friends offer comfort and connection. However, that can sometimes come with advice and bias. A therapist provides a confidential, nonjudgmental, and neutral space and uses specialized training to help you understand your patterns, regulate emotions, and process deeper themes to create lasting change.
7. Do you offer online therapy?
Yes — I strictly offer online therapy for California and Illinois residents, so you can connect from anywhere in the state. Telehealth sessions are HIPAA-compliant, confidential, and can be just as effective as in-person therapy.
8. How do I choose the right therapist?
The best therapist for you is someone you feel safe and comfortable with. Success in therapy is indicated by the therapeutic relationship more than any modality or training. Read their website, check their specialties, and trust your intuition during a consultation. It is also okay to switch therapists any time you feel the need to!
At Le Therapy, I offer a free consultation so you can see if we’re a good fit before committing.
9. How do I pay for therapy?
Clients typically have 3 options:
Out-of-Pocket or Private Pay - This is where the client takes on the sole responsibility of the fee. Therapists will accept cash, card, checks, or electronic money transfer (Zelle/Venmo/etc.) depending on the practice. Some practices will have a sliding scale for client’s that have special financial needs.
In-Network with Insurance - Client’s can utilize their insurance plans. Depending on your plan you may have a co-pay for visits that means you will pay 10-50$ (typically) per session. Alternatively you may have a deductible, meaning you have to pay the full session fee until you meet the deductible. After that is met you either a percentage or zero.
Out-of-Network Insurance - Some therapists do not accept insurance and will provide you a superbill to provide to your insurance company if you have out-of-network benefits. In this case you pay the therapist and the insurance will reimburse you after you provide the superbill.
10. How can I start therapy with Le Therapy?
You can schedule a free consultation directly on my contact page.
We’ll talk about what’s been coming up for you and what kind of support you’re looking for in support and in your therapist so we can be sure we are both a match for one another.