What Happens In A Counselling Session? 5 Stages To Know
Last Updated on February 21, 2025 by Prath
Reviewed by April Justice, LICSW
- Published on 21 February 2025
Counselling sessions lead to change. And this is the ultimate goal of mental health support.
The process begins with understanding an individual’s thought patterns, lifestyle, habits, and values.
Through consistent and high-quality support, the client may:
- Start thinking clearly and from a fresh perspective
- Begin to resolve conflicts effectively
- Cope with or reduce signs of distress
- Imporve their overall well-being
You may already know the benefits of counselling. But what exactly happens in a session? Is it just a dialogue exchange? Or a magical conversation that fixes everything?
The answer is neither. Let’s explore the exact details and stages of a counselling session and what you can expect from them.
This Article Contains:
Understanding the Counselling Process
The counselling process may look different for everyone – but it follows some fundamental principles.
For example, all counsellors in Malaysia are trained to:
- Listen actively (eg through non-verbal communication, paraphrasing, reflecting on the client’s presenting problems etc)
- Provide non-judgemental and unconditional support – This means that regardless of the problems that the client may bring up, the counsellor responds from a place of empathy
- Ask targeted questions to explore the client’s life in depth
Besides the above key practices, each counsellor has their own style of therapy. Some therapists may provide a structured and organised conversation, while others may use a free-flow approach to dig into issues.
There’s never a right or wrong therapeutic approach; it’s just what feels right for you.
Some elements involved in most types of counselling are:
- Discussing your goals, needs, and requirements of therapy
- Exploring your thoughts, feelings, and habits and understanding the patterns that are harming you
- Developing a personalised therapeutic plan based on what feels comfortable for you
- Setting achievable and realistic goals and tracking progress in therapy
- Learning how to implement therapeutic skills in real-life
- Discussing the duration, frequency, and termination of counselling sessions
What to Expect in a Counselling Session
Your first counselling session could be considered a mutual interview. Sometimes, it is also known as an intake session.
The idea of an ‘intake’ is to set expectations, get to know each other, and build rapport and trust with your counsellor.
At this point of the session, it is your chance to see if the professional is the right fit for you. You can choose to look for someone else if you struggle to relate with the counsellor.
After the initial introductions, your counsellor may enquire about:
- Your goals for counselling
- Presenting problems that may be affecting your daily life
- Different aspects of your life, such as relationships, work, family, or academia
- Your childhood experiences that have significantly left an impression on you
- Your current lifestyle and energy levels
What Your Counsellor Will Cover
After getting to know you, the professional may also take the chance to explain about their:
- Professional qualifications
- Their confidential policy
- Therapy approach and style
- Specialisations
- Experiences working with people struggling with issues similar to yours
- Suggestions on duration and frequency of counselling
The first session can feel scary. However, counsellors are trained professionals who will be aware of your apprehensions.
If you feel stuck or are unsure what to talk about, your counsellor will take you through the session and ease you into it.
Before you book your session, let’s look into the 5 stages of counselling services.
The Stages of the Counselling Process
Through the stages of counselling sessions, the professional will help you move from where you are to where you want to be.
Inciting sustainable change takes a solid framework – all the way from initial engagement to termination. These five stages are essential for experiencing a successful counselling outcome.
Although these stages are personalised based on the client’s needs, there are some overarching steps that all counsellors may use. In this section, we will examine these steps.
Stage One: Relationship Building
The counselling sessions begin with the most important element: establishing a relationship, also formally referred to as a therapeutic alliance.
Stage one focuses on the counsellor building rapport with you and trying to understand all the issues you want to address.
Below are some aspects you may discuss during this stage:
- Expectations for future counselling sessions
- Goal setting
- Personalising therapeutic approach
Developing a safe and healthy alliance builds a strong foundation, ultimately leading to positive therapy outcomes.
Stage Two: Problem Assessment
Once the therapeutic alliance is established, the professional may focus on assessing your problems.
In this stage, you may be expected to:
- Share your current feelings and reflections
- Talk about your problems in depth
- Bring up all the topics you wish to discuss during your therapeutic journey
- Reflect on all areas of life
The counsellor may carefully listen and provide their clinical impressions on what issue they may be facing and how to resolve it.
However, by discussing how to resolve the issues, counsellors may expand on their counselling strategies rather than provide you with direct answers. This is because you are the best judge of your life.
Tips to Open Up During Counselling Services
The problem assessment stage may occur in the 2nd or 3rd counselling session. Hence, try to journal your thoughts and reflections well in advance.
At TYHO, you can sign up and use our Journal & Notes feature to track your mood and thoughts and use prompts to reflect on all areas of your life.
Knowing what you want to seek help with can reduce your nervousness and allow you to set the pace of counselling.
Stage 3: Goal Setting
During this stage, your counsellor will work with you collaboratively to develop therapy goals.
“Once a goal is formulated and selected by a problem solver, it is likely to be rehearsed in the working memory and stored in long-term memory. A goal encoded in this way, then, becomes a major heuristic for the problem solver as he or she interacts with the environment”
– Dixon and Glover
Effective counselling is when you set goals and a baseline to track your progress.
Your baseline is when you first start counselling. Hence, maintain a journal on how you felt before therapy, as you can use that information to measure your growth and personal development after learning therapeutic skills.
Stage 4: Counselling Intervention
The counselling intervention stage is when the counsellor develops a personalised therapeutic plan.
The therapeutic plan will serve as a roadmap for addressing your mental health issues and helping you achieve the changes you want to see in your life.
Depending on the counsellor’s style, the plan may outline:
- A specific therapeutic approach like cognitive behavioural therapy or dialectic behavioural therapy
- Counselling homework and progress
- Measurements to track progress
Stage 5: Evaluation
During the last stage, the counsellor may either evaluate your progress or discuss termination if you’re ready to move on from counselling.
Planning well in advance for termination can lead to a positive experience. Counsellors may also brief you about important aspects of ending counselling. Some of these include:
- Reaching an agreement on how and when counselling will end. For some people, reaching an end may mean successfully achieving all of their therapy goals. For others, it could mean having received a satisfactory amount of skills they can use. Your goals may differ from other people.
- Reevaluating if any problem needs to be addressed further or exploring other changes that can be made through counselling. For example, suppose you’ve already achieved your therapy goals, but would still like to attend sessions once a month to focus on habit-building or personal development. In that case, you can discuss this during this counselling stage.
Remember that honest communication is vital for all stages of counselling.
Conclusion
Counselling services can bring out the much-need change in your life.
While each counsellor’s approach and style may vary, they may all follow the same structure and stages of counselling.
Try to be as honest as possible during all the stages of counselling. Being proactive and intentional during counselling can result in changes sooner.
No matter the type of counselling service, a collaborative approach and consistency are required to experience therapeutic success.
Review our diverse group of counsellors to book a counselling session. We provide a detailed guide on how to get started on our platform. Investing in your mental health is worth the effort!
