Therapeutic Goals

It is usually one of the first questions I will ask or it will be one of the first statements of the person seeking therapy: the goal of counseling. As far as I'm concern, if this is not discussed right away, the first session can be a terrible disappointment  to both the client and the therapist.
Some people mistake the goals with the "why" of counseling. Stating that you are in counseling because of x/y/z really is not as important as "what do you want to accomplish?". Let me explain: someone may come to counseling because of others saying they are ______. Frankly, being in counseling for that reason is probably a) not a good reason to be in counseling and b)not the goal of the person seeking services.
If a person is coming to see you to confirm or infirm that statement, now we have a goal. Sometimes, however, they come to you for a total different reason. They may have noticed other things relates to that reason. A substance user may originally come to counseling because of others saying they have a problem but really, they feel misunderstood, have a short fuse, etc. Hence you can finally identify the goal of them seeking counseling.
It is not unusual that the original reason does not end up being the goal of the therapy. And that's ok. Most people can identify the why of counseling but, to many people, the goal is really the key to a successful first session and therapeutic relationship long-term.