Questions to Ask a Prospective Trauma Therapist in St. Louis

Okay, so you’ve done all the steps - you researched trauma therapy in St. Louis, you have found a few trauma therapists near you that you’re ready to connect with, but now that you’re ready, you’re not sure what you should really ask them when you chat.

That’s okay.

We know that it’s probably taken time to narrow down your search and find a prospective therapist(s), and now that you have, it’s important to know if they’re a good fit.

When you connect with a prospective trauma therapist you ultimately want to feel more at ease about the process, know what to expect, and know how therapy will work with them. You want to feel assured and like you have an understanding of what’s to come.

Experiencing trauma can be really difficult for your child or teen, and even for the entire family. It can be hard to put all of the questions you have into something brief or more collective.

Here are a few things to ask a prospective trauma therapist in St. Louis:

What is your approach?

Trauma is complex. You’ll want to know how the therapist works with trauma as many will do some differently. Some might use one approach, while others do something else. Asking this question can help you decide if the approach is suitable for your child or and teen and if it will work for them, because ultimately you know them best.

Some therapists, like our therapists and counselors at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, are certified in trauma therapy which means they have gone through extensive training just for trauma! Both traditional therapists and certified trauma therapists are great when working with trauma, but how they practice might alter how they approach the trauma. Or one might use trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy while another uses EMDR. Understanding the therapist’s approach can help you know what to expect or what might be going on while your child or teen is in therapy.

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How often are sessions scheduled?

This can be another great question to ask so that you're prepared, have time to work out your schedule, and so you can have clear expectations.

In addition to the logistics, how sessions are scheduled can contribute to the time frame therapy is needed or how quickly progression and change is achieved. While everyone is different and the time spent in therapy is unique to the client, from doing the research we’ve learned that weekly sessions are more efficient for making progress. Whereas bi-weekly can be more like taking two steps forward, one step back.

How do I start the process?

This is a great question to ask because it’ll help you prepare for the next step - getting your child or teen booked with a trauma therapist in St. Louis.

At Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, we have experienced and certified trauma focused CBT therapists on staff. We want to help support your child or teen in their journey of healing from trauma.

To get started with trauma therapy, you can schedule a phone consult here with our intake coordinator who will be happy to answer any questions that you might have and help decide the therapist who will be best the best fit. Our intake coordinator will even be ready to schedule your child or teen’s first session during the consult.

What should we expect during our first session with you?

Our first session of trauma therapy in St. Louis would include some rapport building and some preliminary psychoeducation for you and your child about our treatment plan.

We would review components of our trauma treatment plan, identify the specific trauma to be addressed, and build some psychoeducation on that type of trauma and its effects. Sometimes a screening can be administered in the initial session and is used to track progress. 

We always want a solid foundation before diving in to processing the trauma itself, so we spend several weeks building comfort.

And then, we end every session with a rapport-building activity of your child or teen’s choosing. We know that the therapeutic relationship is the most important part of making clinical improvement - so we want to ensure that your child feels heard, understood, and respected in session, and that we have a solid foundation for our work together.

Asking questions about trauma therapy in St. Louis can seem scary, but it can be necessary in getting your child or teen the support they need.

The only way to get past trauma is to go through it, with someone ready to help guide you.

We’re happy to help.

Curious to hear more about trauma therapy in St. Louis? Compassionate Counseling St. Louis provides specialized anxiety and anger management therapy for kids, teens, and college students. We work in Clayton, MO and serve kids, teens, and college students throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, University City, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Coeur, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood. You can set up your free phone screening to see if we’re a good fit for your needs right on our website.