Having productive conversations with a mental health professional

As promised, here is part 2 of 2 of this mini newsletter series. This topic stemmed from another conversation I was having with a close friend of mine who recently started chatting with a mental health professional. Our conversation went something like this:

Friend: What do you talk to your mental health professional about?

Me: Anything and everything. It’s my 1 hour to be completely self-absorbed and talk about ME! (Being an only child, this is pretty easy for me - ha)

Although there is no "right" way to have a conversation when it comes to chatting with a mental health professional, there are ways to ensure that it’s productive. Here are 5 points I like to keep in mind:

1. Set a goal you want to achieve and share this with your mental health professional as well. This goal may change over time or you may create new goals once your initial goal is met.
2. Prepare for each session. Have an idea of what you want to talk about in the session. It helps to jot down a few feelings or situations that happened that you want to explore further.
3. Ask questions. If something doesn't resonate or doesn't make sense, ask questions until it does
4. Do your homework. Put new insights to use and see if they resonate. Keep notes along the way.
5. Be unapologetically YOU and have fun with it!