WHAT TO EXPECT
WHAT TO EXPECT: START TO FINISH
INITIAL PHONE CALL OR EMAIL
The first step is to reach out and call my office at 269-982-7200 to set up an appointment. My dedicated office staff will be able to check your insurance information, answer any questions, and set up an initial appointment with me. They are available from 8:30 AM-9:00 PM Monday-Friday. I work in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but my staff is located in St. Joseph, Michigan, so when they call you back you will see a (269) area code on your caller ID. My staff double checks insurance policies before you come in so we can be sure to give you the most updated information about insurance copays and deductibles, so there are no financial surprises.
If you would like to chat with me more by email or phone before setting up an appointment, you can email me directly at Jennifervanbeck@gmail.com and I will return your email in a timely manner.
After we’ve set up an appointment, I will send you some paperwork in advance of our first meeting. This is basically the legal paperwork – consent to treatment, insurance confidentiality documents, and a background questionnaire.
FIRST APPOINTMENT
At our first meeting, we’ll quickly take care of the paperwork and get started on helping you reach your goals. My job in this first meeting is to understand your unique experience of the issue that brings you in, define what you want to be changed, and offer clear ideas of what the best method would be given who you are and the nature of your concerns. Counseling is a collaborative process, and we will figure out together what has to be different in the end for this process to meet or even exceed your hopes and expectations, and then we’ll discuss how we think we can get there.
COURSE OF THERAPY
Hopefully, you will notice positive changes in your life within our first few meetings. Some people benefit from just a few sessions of counseling and are able to continue to make changes as challenges come up on their own. Others benefit from more intensive work and may be best served by long-term treatment. Deciding on the length and frequency of counseling is a collaborative process and may change as we progress in our work.
MOVING ON
When our work is done, you’ll be aware of how you’ve come to make the improvements you have in your life and you’ll have a clear understanding of how to anticipate and address the problem if it returns. One of the most encouraging aspects of our work is that the majority of people go away having achieved the change they set out to make. So most likely, we’ll end on a very positive note with an open invitation to return if you hit a bump in the road or notice some back-sliding.