For context, I (23M) live in the United States. In Ohio. A bit concerned about privacy because of the whole Nazi problem and the fact that I live in an abusive household.
I’ve been working on myself a lot recently and realized that I can’t do this alone anymore (or rely on Internet strangers to talk about my issues). I feel like I finally have the strength to ask for help in the real world. I’ve just never done this before. What’s it like? Is it warm and fuzzy, or cold and analytical? (Does it feel like someone is providing care and comfort, or is it more like an emotionally detached scientist meticulously studying you and scribbling down notes while mumbling “Hmm, I see, I see” while you yap at them?) Do you start to see results right away, or are things slow at first? How much stuff is recorded in a database that other systems can look up?
Don’t lie or give therapists any run-arounds. They’ll know and while they can’t like penalize you for it, they could smell the bullshit and may call you out on it.
You need to open yourself up a lot. Not immediately, but in time. Therapy is about coming to clarity about your issues. You may hear things you won’t like. You may hear things that may get you emotional. That’s part of the process. The sooner you come to those truths and face them, the better off you’ll be, because you’ll figure ways in how to handle them.
Talking about self-harm and abuse to others may force a therapist to commit you into emergency self-care. Meaning they’ll reach out to emergency services to have to come get you if they feel you’re a threat to yourself or others.
Have a clear objective and a clear goal for you and the therapist to work on.
Oh and personal advice, if you do video-chat or anything with audio. Do yourself a favor and grab the audacity audio software, then figure a way to record everything a therapist has said to you to listen to as many times as needed.
What if it’s other people who may be a threat to me? Could they send the cops to my house if I talk about the fact that a couple of my family members tortured and killed pets and I repeatedly overheard them talking about their fantasies of mass murder, genocide, and their nonchalant willingness to kill me?
As you can see, I have very good reasons for being in therapy.
Some people are “mandated reporters” meaning that if they learn of crimes /danger to a child or other vulnerable person, they are legally required to report it. The specifics vary by jurisdiction.
If you’re concerned, then during your first session ask about their policies for information recording, storage, and reporting. I always ask and they never seem surprised by the question.
They won’t send cops to your house. They’ll have the best advice for how to navigate that.
They’ll probably advise speaking to authorities. And a therapist could be a good resource of information. Because it’ll be on some record.