You can expect different variations in therapy and different results depending on the kind of therapy you are attending. For example group therapy is not going to have the same effect on a person that needs private therapy as it would on a person with more generalised problems such as alcoholism. Most therapy relationships start with a consultation session this basically introduces you to your potential therapist so you can see whether or not this particular therapist would be suitable for your needs, this is because you may have certain values or requirements and if you and the therapist differ on any of these opinions you may be more suited to a different therapist that agrees with your views and you with theirs. Some examples of what to expect from the various types of therapy are;

- Private therapy – This particular kind of therapy focuses entirely on you personally and they will start with the standard consultation once the consultation is complete and you feel comfortable with your therapist and are satisfied you can trust them then they will carry out an assessment over a period of around 3 sessions usually. This assessment can consist of a variety of things but mainly includes the therapist asking specific questions about your concerns or feelings that are causing you distress, they will sometimes write out a questionnaire for you to fill out and from filling it out they will complete your assessment from your answers. This is so the therapist can gain an insight into what seems to cause your problems and also have an understanding of exactly how you are feeling at that moment in time. Once the initial assessment is over they can then start to work with you very closely to try and help you understand why you feel the way you do, and why these feelings are giving you so much distress.

- Group therapy – This varies greatly from private therapy in the way that each individual will introduce themselves and a background on their problems to the group as a whole instead of just to the therapist. This sometimes helps people to open easily as they can see others that have similar problems speaking about them openly. It is a great way for people to see that they are not completely alone in the way they are feeling. That is why group therapy is such a good way for those with widely known problems such as eating disorders, drugs or drink problems to over come their problems because they can see things in the other people in the group they may never have seen in themselves before.