Healing From the Get-go
What Feels Different About an AEDP First Session
If you’ve ever started therapy before, you may be familiar with the usual first session: You sit down, the therapist asks you to share your entire life story, and you end up rattling off facts—where you grew up, your family history, jobs, relationships, and maybe some past diagnoses. It can feel like filling out a form aloud, usually with information already given in the intake. Many clients describe their previous intakes feeling clinical, detached, or even draining, like they had to “dump everything out” just to earn the chance to be helped later. In my (Jamie) experience, I was even told by a therapist that it felt like I had “just dumped this wheelbarrow of information” onto the therapist.
With AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), things are different.
Not Just an Intake—A Healing Experience
When you sit down with me for your first AEDP session, you don’t have to hand over your whole autobiography before we begin. I’m not looking to collect data; I’m here to meet you.
We’ll begin with what feels most important to you right now. Maybe it’s a recent conflict. Maybe it’s a wave of anxiety or shame. Maybe it’s a moment of joy you don’t quite trust.
Instead of asking for a list of past events, I’ll invite you to notice what you’re feeling in the present moment as you talk—and together, we’ll slow down to pay attention to how those emotions show up in your body and in our connection.
Building Trust Through Real-Time Experience
AEDP is built on the idea that healing happens in relationship. That means our first session isn’t about me knowing all the details of your past before we can begin—it’s about practicing trust, disclosure, and vulnerability right here, right now.
As you share, I’ll stay with you. I’ll reflect what I see and feel in the moment. And together, we’ll create a safe space to try out what may not have always felt safe in the past:
Letting yourself cry and be comforted
Naming anger without fear of rejection
Sharing shame and experiencing compassion in return
Feeling joy without minimizing it
Healing From the Start
Because AEDP is experiential, healing doesn’t wait until session three or four, it begins immediately. “Moment-to-moment” tracking allows your therapist to notice the emergence of healing affect and glimmers of vitality.
From the very first hour, clients often describe feeling:
Relief that they don’t have to “perform” or tell everything at once
Surprised by the depth of connection so quickly
A sense of safety that allows real emotions to surface
Hope that therapy can be different this time
A nervous excitement that
Why This Matters
When you don’t have to recount your whole life story before healing begins, you get to experience something new:
Therapy that feels personal, not procedural
A relationship that prioritizes connection over information
A space where emotions aren’t just described, but felt, shared, and transformed
That’s the heart of AEDP—and it’s why so many people find it unlike any therapy they’ve experienced before.
“In AEDP, you don’t have to relive your whole past before change can happen. Healing begins in the very first moments of being seen, felt, and understood—right here, together.”