The First Stage of Therapy: Getting to Know Your Therapist

When any new relationship starts, there is always that “getting to know you” stage, which can be fun, maybe awkward, but vital to any relationship! In therapy, this “getting to know you” stage is very important to the therapeutic relationship and helps therapists build rapport with the client. 

Miss Cacia is seen here working on developing rapport with a client during an individual music therapy session in his home.

Rapport is described as “a relationship characterized by agreement, mutual understanding, or empathy that makes communication possible or easy” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d.), so when we’re building rapport, we’re literally figuring out how to communicate with our clients, make them feel safe, and build trust so we can get to the real goal-oriented work.

Researchers have found that the most influential factor in a successful therapeutic relationship is the relationship between the therapist and the client (Hanser, 2018), so the importance of starting off the therapeutic relationship on the right foot can’t be understated.

Therapists might build rapport by having the client choose their preferred musical activities, ask questions about the client, get to know their music preferences, and genuinely make a connection with the client. Building rapport with clients might not look a lot like therapy, but it is an incredibly important part of the relationship between the therapist and the client. 

We’re all able to be more like ourselves when we feel comfortable and accepted, and as therapists, we always want to make sure that our clients feel that they can be their authentic selves in therapy, so we can make progress towards our goals!

References
Hanser, S. B. (2018). The new music therapist's handbook. Boston, MA: Berklee Press.

Rapport. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rapport