Initial Phone Consultation

Before you schedule your first appointment, I invite you to call me for a free 30 minute phone consultation. During the consultation, you will have the opportunity to get to know me and I can assess whether or not I believe that I can be of service to you. In the event that we are not a good fit, then I will be happy to provide you with referrals to other therapists in the area.

Appointments

I offer weekday appointments in the late morning, afternoon and in the evening as late as 8:00PM. In addition, I offer appointments on Saturdays.  Appointments can vary in length between 55 and 110 minutes depending on the arrangements that we make. I will offer you the same appointment time each week whenever possible. In the case of a crisis, I will attempt to schedule an appointment for you as soon as possible.

First Appointment

There is a short New Client Information Form that you must complete prior to our first session, so please arrive 15 minutes early for your appointment. (If time permits, I will mail, fax or e-mail a copy of the form to you so that you can complete it at home). It is common to be nervous at your first appointment and I will do everything that I can to help you feel comfortable. We will spend a few minutes discussing my office policies, as well as confidentiality. After that we can begin to explore your needs in greater depth.

The initial session is considered an assessment and there is no special preparation required by you. In addition, you are not under any commitment to begin a series of sessions. We will spend the first session discussing your concerns, goals and expectations. This will also be an opportunity to see if we are a good fit and I will also answer any questions that you may have. At the end of the session you can choose to schedule another session or take some time to think it over.

Measuring Results

At various points during the course of therapy we will review our progress toward the mutually agreed upon goals. I may adjust our focus or treatment approach depending on your needs. In addition, each week I will ask you to complete a four question rating scale to monitor how well you are doing. This will give you the opportunity to give me consistent feedback and will allow us to track changes over time.

This information is also used so that I can systematically track the outcomes of each of my clients and allows me to be a more effective therapist.  Most clients will see positive changes early in therapy and if after the 6th or 7th session you have not made any progress, we will consider shifting the therapy in some way. Finally, once you are satisfied and your goals have been met, we can share in the joy of your success. 

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Jim Viccaro, M.S., M.F.T.
Life Pathways Therapy Solutions
Phone:(562) 286-9152 E-mail: jim@life-pathways.com