While the therapy “process” looks different depending on the individual and concerns being addressed, therapy here typically looks like the following:

• Sessions 1–3: Getting to know you, exploring your history, identifying goals and hopes, and completing a general assessment.
  
  

• Around Session 3: We discuss a preliminary “theory” about what may be driving your symptoms and, if appropriate, your clinician may offer a diagnosis. This is when we collaborate on a tailored treatment plan.
  
  

• Session 4 or 5 onward: We begin active treatment: This means following the treatment plan and implementing strategies and interventions to address your goals.
  
  

• Ongoing: We use brief assessment or screening measures to track progress, and feedback is regularly sought to ensure therapy remains aligned with your needs.

It’s important to remember that therapy is a type of emotional and psychological rehabilitation, similar to how a physiotherapist might guide their patient through physical rehabilitation. As such, progress in therapy is often gradual, a little bit uncomfortable (at first) and the result of repeated effort.

In our experience, therapy tends to be most effective when:

• It’s a collaborative, active process, not a passive one.
  
  

• Practice between sessions reinforces skills learned in-session.
  
  

• Feedback is regularly exchanged, and progress is measured through both reflection and brief self-report tools.
  
  

• There are clearly defined goals, often broken down into smaller, achievable steps.
  
  

• Sessions are frequent and consistent — typically weekly or biweekly at first. 

While this may feel like a big commitment, more frequent therapy in the beginning and regular practice between sessions sets a foundation for less therapy later. 

As progress builds, sessions can gradually taper to less frequent check-ins. Ultimately, we want you to learn the skills to be your own therapist.

If you’re reflective, motivated, and ready to put in the work, you’ll likely find our approach both challenging and deeply rewarding. Clients can expect structured guidance, exercises between sessions, and the occasional experience of “feeling worse before feeling better”; This is a normal and temporary part of meaningful growth.

When we start therapy, we have both a goal and a hope. 

• Our Goal: Our general goal in cognitive behavioural therapy is to focus on gradual, measurable changes in how you manage your thoughts and behaviors. This might include tolerating uncertainty, reducing avoidance, or challenging how you think.
  
  

• Our Hope: The ultimate hope is that these changes lead to reduced distress, creating a “domino effect” that improves how you feel and function. We do not aim to change feelings directly; instead, we target the processes that naturally shift your experience over time.

This work can be challenging, but it is also deeply rewarding. Clients leave therapy with greater clarity, resilience, and the confidence to manage intrusive thinking, worry, and fear in daily life.