What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy involves talking to a person who is trained to help you resolve issues and develop healthy coping skills. At the CWRU psychology Clinic, we provide therapy that is collaborative, skills-based and goal-focused. In addition, we integrate therapies and techniques that have been scientifically evaluated and found to be helpful in the treatment of certain disorders.

What is Your Role in Therapy?

Therapy is a collaborative interaction between you and your therapist. It is important for you to regularly attend sessions to get the most out of therapy. In addition, you may work with your therapist to design “homework assignments” for you to complete between sessions. We have found this between-session work to greatly enhance the results of therapy. Both you and your therapist are responsible for an effective therapy experience, and open communication is essential to the therapy process.

What to expect during therapy

After you have completed an initial intake appointment and completed the necessary paperwork, your intake interviewer will contact you regarding treatment options. These may include receiving therapy in our clinic, or providing you with outside community referrals better equipped to meet your needs. If our clinic seems like a good match for you, and you would like to continue with our clinic, you will be assigned a student therapist. If there is a waiting list, the clinic coordinator will call you periodically to tell you where you are on the waiting list.

Once you have been assigned to a therapist, s/he will contact you to schedule an initial appointment. Typically, during this initial appointment, you will have a discussion about yourself and the reason(s) you have decided to seek our services at this time. Your therapist may also give you additional questionnaires to complete depending upon the difficulties you reported in the intake interview. This is an important meeting because it begins to establish a relationship between you and your therapist that should help to allow you to feel more comfortable and at ease during therapy. Therapy sessions typically occur weekly and last 50 minutes.

Missed appointments or canceling a session

The CWRU Psychology Clinic requires 24 hour notice for all session cancellations. To cancel an appointment, you can contact the department clinic at (216)368-0719 or your therapist directly if you have his/her contact information. When 24 hours notice has not been given or when clients fail to show for their appointment, clients will be charged their hourly fee.