• Make an Overview Life Timeline or Map: Generally on the first day, your counselor will ask for an overview of major milestones in your life. It can help to have a sense of what you’ll want to share ahead of time. Having a brief map of the process can be a great place to start, noting key life events, relevant family background, medical/mental health diagnoses, etc.
• Current Symptoms: Bring thoughts or notes on current symptoms, stressors, or triggers you’re seeing in yourself (or your child if you’re a parent.) Include a list of medications or supplements you’re taking.
• Previous Therapy Notes: Past therapy notes (if you have any), and what helped or didn’t. If you are currently seeing a counselor (perhaps online), asking that counselor to sign a release of information, and providing notes or a summary, or contact by phone/video call with your OTCC counselor prior to the intensive can be helpful in getting them up to speed on the work you have already been engaging in.

We believe that intensive therapy like this can provide significant breakthroughs, but it’s not a perfect fix for all your problems. Progress takes time and effort, and our goal is that you’ll be able to dig really deep in the two weeks you’re here, and then leave with some deeper insight, as well as practical, repeatable, and effective tools.

• Consider planning some touch-points with a trusted friend or supportive person in your life. You don’t need to rehash everything, but just knowing someone will be checking in with you regularly throughout your counseling can be a great help, particularly if you are traveling here alone. 
• Expect emotional fatigue. We highly recommend clearing your schedule before and after sessions. You may be tempted to try and work online for a few hours or keep regularly scheduled meetings intact, but you’ll appreciate plenty of down time and reflection. Use this time as a true break from your regular responsibilities so you can be fully present. 
• This can also be true for your kids and teens. If you’re homeschooling, we encourage you to take the two weeks off completely – as you and your kids will likely not have the time or space to do both counseling and a full schoolwork load effectively. If you can’t avoid some school work, or they must maintain a level of classwork for a public or private school, then do what you can to minimize the extra projects or homework they will need to do during your time here at Olive Tree. At best, there’s a toll on parents and kids just being out of routine and away from familiar home bases. 

Please Note: We know it’s hard to get away from regular obligations. Even if you have to bring some work / school work with you, don’t let that stop you from coming! Just recognize that you’ll likely need to have some extra down time to process, pray, and rest. When possible, this is a good time to loosen any commitments you can during your time here. 

Two weeks ahead of your arrival, you’ll receive a link to complete an assessment from our intake coordinator, the OQ-45 (for adults). This will give your therapist a better look at what symptoms you’re currently experiencing. It takes about 10 minutes to fill out and is really beneficial to assess where you’re at before, and then after counseling. 

CHILDREN / TEENS: If your kid(s) ages 3-12 are seeing a therapist, there will be a parent questionnaire to fill out on their behalf two weeks ahead of therapy. Adolescents ages 13-17 will have an assessment they will fill out on their own. These all help the individual’s therapist better understand what current symptoms and level of struggles they are arriving with. You (as a parent) will receive information via email to fill out / coordinate each family member’s assessment.

POSSIBLE ADDITIONS: Additionally, your counselor might email you in the week or two before counseling with an additional assessment for you to complete prior to arrival. This is most often done for couples counseling. Your counselor will reach out if they are needing an assessment or additional information ahead of time, so make sure that you check your emails regularly leading up to your counseling.

Documenting your Journey: Journaling can be a great supportive activity, starting before your first day so you can see how things are changing throughout your time here. Note your emotional shifts, memories or insights, and questions you want to ask your counselor. If this sounds overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be! You can start with a simple process of Bullet Journaling, as described in this video: https://vimeo.com/1049237585 

Becoming Aware of Your Body: Often, in seasons of distress, we become unaware of the toll it’s taking on our bodies. These exercises can help you become more aware of your body, and be more present as you come into your time for counseling.

• Mindfulness – Wheel of Awareness: https://vimeo.com/868266169 
• Deep Breathing Exercises: https://vimeo.com/883180500 

For Babysitting: 

• Mention some of the hard things your family has been experiencing lately and normalize that everyone goes through hard things sometimes. When we do, it can be really helpful to talk a counselor about it so we can learn to handle these hard things better. At Olive Tree we will get to talk to someone about this so our family can be healthy.
• When we come for counseling, we’ll always be in the same building, just down the hall in an office.
• There will be a fun, nice babysitter to play with you in the “family room”, a big space with lots of toys, books, games and arts and crafts to do.
• Talk about the schedule of what will happen during the day (whether you’re there just for mornings or mornings and afternoons.) The more detailed you can be about the process and what they can expect, the easier the transitions can become. 

On the First Day: 

• Particularly on the first day, plan to arrive 15 minutes early so you can get settled. We can show you and the kids the family room space they’ll be in, and you can be with them to talk to the babysitter before you need to leave for your session.
• Bring a favorite toy or stuffed animal along that can be a comfort item for them.
• Bring snacks and a water bottle for them, and make sure they have enough diapers or an extra set of clothes if needed. 

If your young kids are also receiving counseling:

• We’ll all go to the family room for a little bit and then you’ll get to go see a counselor too! They are like a “feelings doctor” who helps kids with their worries and bothers. (Be specific about the worries and bothers you see in them and also let them know this is normal when children experience a lot of change.)  
• Sometimes mom and dad will meet with your counselor too and sometimes we might come into the same room as you. But you will also have time to just talk to your “feelings doctor” too. 
• Then you’ll get to go back and play with the childcare person in the family room too.

For Adolescents that are receiving counseling: 

• In counseling, you’ll have time to talk about the difficult things you’re experiencing now, other times you might play games or do an art therapy project with your counselor. (You can check out this art therapy exercise before coming to see what this might look like: https://vimeo.com/913276577) 
• Your counselor keeps what you say confidential. However, they also will sometimes need to talk to your parents about things so they can better support you. Your counselor will always talk about this with you, so there will be no surprises about what your parents will know about your counseling. We (at Olive Tree) and your parents are here to help support you. We want to respect you and also want to support you as best we can.
• This time is about talking / focusing on what you need / want to talk about. Your parents will have some ideas and we’ll talk about those too, but ultimately, we want to be here to support you and any concerns you currently have. Counseling is meant to be supportive of you and your needs.