Nervous about the first session? Good — that's human.

Almost everyone is nervous before a first session. People arrive apologising for it. Please don’t — walking into a room to talk about the hardest parts of your life, with a stranger, is a genuinely brave thing to do. Nerves are the appropriate response.

Here’s what the hour is actually like, so there’s one less unknown.

You don’t have to prepare

There’s no form to fill in your head, no tidy summary you need to deliver. If you’ve rehearsed something, great; if you turn up with no idea where to start, that’s just as workable. “I don’t really know why I’m here” is a completely normal first sentence, and a useful one.

It’s mostly listening

A first session is largely me getting to know you — what’s brought you, what you’re hoping for, a little of the background. I’ll ask some questions, but you set the pace. If there’s something you’re not ready to talk about, you say so, and we leave it. Nothing gets forced.

You’re allowed to feel it out

You don’t have to commit to anything. Plenty of people use a first session partly to decide whether I’m the right fit — whether you feel comfortable, whether my way of working suits you. If it doesn’t, that’s useful information, and I’ll happily help you find someone who’s a better match.

Crying is fine. Not crying is also fine.

There’s no correct way to do it. Some people cry in the first five minutes; some don’t for months; some never do and still do deep work. However you show up is the right way to show up.

The nerves usually fade somewhere in the first ten minutes, once you realise the room is safe and nobody’s judging you. Until then, they’re just a sign you’re taking something seriously. That’s not a bad place to start from.