If you have made it as far as actually picking up the phone — or the contact form — about therapy, you have already done the hardest part. The first session is, deliberately, the easiest part.
Session zero is a conversation, not therapy
Every prospective client at Critical Success starts with a free 15-minute consultation. It is not a treatment session. It is a conversation to figure out, together, whether this is a fit. No commitment, no clinical paperwork. Just a chance to ask the questions you have been carrying.
Common things people use this time for:
- Describing what is going on, in their own words, and seeing how McKenzie responds
- Asking whether the practice is actually a good match for their (or their kid's) situation
- Asking practical questions — scheduling, format, virtual vs. in-person, what insurance looks like
- Just listening to a voice and seeing whether it feels OK to bring something hard to it
All of these are good uses. If you do not know what you are looking for, that is also fine — *I am not sure if this is for me* is one of the most common opening lines in a consultation, and one of the most honest.
What happens after session zero
If we both agree it is a fit, the next step depends on what you are signing up for. Roughly:
- Individual counseling — we schedule a 50-minute intake session, walk through the standard clinical paperwork, and set initial goals together. From there, sessions are weekly or as needed. EMDR, IFS, and other modalities get layered in based on what your goals call for.
- Sport psychology counseling — we schedule an intake, talk through your sport, the pressures, and what success looks like off the field, then build a plan that includes both the performance work and the underneath-it work.
- Coaching — we set up an intake call, agree on goals, and pick a package length. Coaching is shorter-arc than counseling, typically 6 to 12 sessions.
- Therapeutic tabletop group — if you opt in, we slot you into the appropriate cohort. You will have a short character-creation session in advance so you can show up to session one ready to play.
What you do not need to do in advance
You do not need a diagnosis. You do not need to know exactly what is wrong. Plenty of clients begin with *something is off and I do not know what to call it yet*. Naming it is part of the work.
What helps:
- A few minutes to think about what you would change if you could change anything
- An honest sense of what your schedule looks like — we are going to need to find a recurring time
- Any prior therapy history you want to share, but only if you want to
If you have been sitting on a half-written message for weeks, this is the sign. Send it. We will reply.