What Happens in a First Session, and How to Prepare

The hardest part of coaching, for most people, is the first phone call. Everything after that tends to get easier. So let's walk through exactly what happens once you decide to come in, so the unknown part stops being the reason you keep putting it off.

Booking the appointment

You call (806) 283-8586 or reach out through the website, and someone will get you scheduled, either in person at our office at 6833 82nd St, Ste 102, in Lubbock, or over video if that fits your life better. We're open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and closed Friday through Sunday, so there's usually a slot that works around a job or a school schedule. If you'd rather do the first session from your kitchen table than a waiting room, that's a completely normal way to start, not a lesser one.

What the room feels like

Walk in and you won't find a cold front desk or a stack of forms a mile long. The space is set up to feel more like a quiet living room than a clinic, with somewhere comfortable to sit and a minute to settle before anything starts. You're allowed to be nervous. Almost everyone is, the first time.

What we actually talk about

A first session is mostly about orientation, both directions. We want to understand what brought you in, what you've already tried, and what a good outcome would look like to you in plain terms. You're allowed to talk about faith as much or as little as feels right. Some people open with scripture on their mind. Others open with "I don't even know where to start," and that's a fine place to begin too. Nobody is grading how well you explain yourself.

We'll also cover the practical side early, so it's out of the way: sessions run about an hour, cost $125 regardless of how many people are in the room, and we don't bill insurance. Most people plan on somewhere between four and eight sessions total, though that number flexes depending on what you're working through. There's no pressure to commit to a set number up front. You can decide session by session.

How to prepare, if you want to

You don't need to arrive with notes or a summary of your life story. Truthfully, most people over-prepare and then say something completely different once they're sitting down, which is fine. If it helps to have something in mind, think about one or two specific things that brought you here, rather than trying to explain everything at once. A single honest sentence, "my marriage feels distant" or "I keep making the same mistake and I don't know why," is a better starting point than a script.

If you're coming with a spouse for marriage coaching or ahead of a wedding for our premarital classes, it can help to talk beforehand about what you each hope to get out of it, though even that's optional. Coaches are used to couples who show up with two very different ideas of why they're there.

Common worries, and why they're smaller than they feel

A few things come up again and again from people before their first visit. Worth naming them here.

• I won't know what to say. You don't have to. Good questions from your coach do most of the work in the first session.
• I'm worried it'll feel too religious, or not religious enough. Faith is woven into how we coach, but it meets you where you are rather than following a fixed script.
• I've never done this before and I feel silly. Most people in that waiting room felt exactly the same way five minutes earlier.
• What if I cry. Then you cry. Nobody in this office has ever been surprised by that.

After the first session

Most clients leave with a clearer sense of direction than they walked in with, even if nothing is solved yet. That's the point of a first meeting. You and your coach will talk about what a reasonable next step looks like, whether that's weekly sessions, something more concentrated like our intensive coaching format, or simply time to think it over. There's no obligation to book anything else on the spot.

One last thing worth saying plainly: showing up is the hard part. Once you're in the room, most people describe it as easier and more ordinary than they expected. If you've been putting off that first call, this is your sign to make it. Reach us at (806) 283-8586, in person Monday through Thursday, or virtually whenever that works better for you.