Students starting their first field course (i.e., seeing clients for the first time) typically experience nerves, confusion, and/or worry. Worry that they won’t be helpful to clients, or don't know enough to provide effective therapy, as well as general anxiety about managing their studies, sessions, and often, the necessary assertiveness required to complete their clinical hours.

An email subscriber in her first field experience emailed me recently to request an article on tips for first-time counselors. In this post, I cover tips that I’ve learned as a therapist and supervisor, as well as those offered to brand- new therapists, by members of the Get Refreshed Facebook Group.