Greetings!
Taking care of your mental health and well-being is a very important step.
The attitude of seeking self-knowledge requires sanity, intelligence, and courage — so congratulations!
The following information will help us make the most of the psychotherapeutic process.
Please read it carefully!
The goal of the psychotherapeutic process.
The psychotherapeutic process helps in building new ways of dealing with conflicting situations and feelings, facing challenges, managing difficulties and potentialities, and promoting transformation in your life.
Within a safe and non-judgmental environment, you share what is bothering or limiting you, and what you would like to change in your life. Providing as many details as possible allows the psychologist to fully understand your case.
Taking into account your life history and the current contingencies you are experiencing, situations are analyzed through a technical and scientific lens. Appropriate strategies are developed, and certain behaviors are reoriented so that you can better organize yourself.
Throughout the sessions, you will acquire skills to overcome limitations that may prevent you from reaching your goals. With greater self-awareness and having learned to observe yourself through specific techniques, you will become more independent in managing your behavior in daily life.
Psychotherapy is a practice dedicated to personal growth and emotional development. Its purpose is to change negative patterns of thought and behavior, correct behavioral deficits or excesses, and contribute to improving your overall well-being.
The decision to become more self-aware will bring benefits that will positively resonate in all areas of your life, including the well-being of those around you.
Online Psychotherapy.
Sessions will be 100% online, personalized, and welcoming. Online psychotherapy is just as effective as in-person therapy, as both processes are essentially verbal. Confidentiality and ethical standards are preserved, and the same knowledge and techniques are applied. This allows the client to benefit from therapy sessions regardless of their location, eliminating the need for travel and saving time.
To make the most of your online sessions, it is important to have a private space with a stable internet connection, free from external interruptions, creating an environment similar to an in-office setting. Using headphones helps improve sound quality and reinforces your privacy. During the session, sit comfortably, avoid multitasking, and ensure your screen and camera are properly positioned and stable. Focus and attention are essential.
Commitment.
Psychotherapy is a medium- to long-term treatment. The client’s commitment is essential for the smooth progress of the sessions and to achieve the best possible outcomes. Therefore, consistency and active collaboration are fundamental to the therapeutic process and its effectiveness.
Confidentiality regarding what is shared during sessions is guaranteed by the Psychologist’s Code of Ethics, except in situations that pose a risk to the client’s safety or the safety of others.
The approach and the technique.
Therapy sessions will follow the Cognitive Behavioral approach, which, in addition to being modern, is the only one with scientifically proven results. It is considered the gold standard psychological approach for a variety of treatments. The Neuropsychological approach will also be applied, which focuses on neuro-adaptive functioning based on the most up-to-date scientific studies in behavioral neuroscience. These studies explain how cortical brain functions influence our mental states, and how our emotional states determine our behavior, which in turn physiologically alters brain functioning.
Behavior, emotions, and thoughts are directly connected. The mind and body work together, and our goal will be to identify these variables and intervene appropriately in each one.
With the aim of providing insight into behavioral interactions, we will first work to understand what the demand is, how it manifests, and why it occurs.
Collaborative tasks and behavioral exercises may be assigned—this could include reading, writing exercises, or even practicing specific behaviors or social interactions. Attention and dedication during the sessions, as well as commitment to the proposed tasks, will contribute to the therapeutic process and help you address your issues more effectively.
Throughout the sessions, explanations, techniques, and resources will be provided to help you deal with your concerns. This is a psychoeducational process aimed at fostering autonomy so that you can manage your own demands independently.
The stages of psychotherapy.
- Identifying demands and welcoming: what are your reasons for seeking psychotherapy?
- Defining goals: the psychotherapist and client will collaboratively establish goals to work on and behaviors to be modified, guiding the sessions with a focus on specific objectives.
- Reviewing your past life history: together, we will analyze past situations, memories, traumas, and life experiences to understand which contingencies are currently at play in your life, how they are organized, and how they may be harming you—producing, maintaining, and perpetuating inappropriate or undesired behaviors and emotions. These patterns, whether consciously or unconsciously maintained, may produce effects opposite to what is expected and contribute to the vicious cycle of the problem.
- Developing new behavioral skills: through the use of specific techniques, you will develop the necessary skills to change behaviors, emotions, and limiting beliefs that may be interfering with your life. This includes correcting behavioral deficits or excesses and acquiring the psychological tools needed to move toward a more fulfilling life.
- Putting the learnings into practice: you will gradually receive guidance on how to incorporate new attitudes into your daily routine, helping you overcome emotional challenges. Once you acquire the necessary skills to manage your difficulties, you will be able to engage with the world in a healthier way and achieve the goals set at the beginning of therapy.
- Ending therapy: when therapeutic goals are achieved, it is likely that emotional distress will have decreased, indicating that it may be time to end the treatment. Once the cycles that sustained the problems have been broken, and with the knowledge and skills acquired, you will be equipped to move forward and face everyday challenges without needing to rely directly on the psychologist’s support.
What will be the frequency and duration of the sessions?
The frequency of psychotherapy depends on each client—their needs, availability, and circumstances. Days and times will be scheduled by mutual agreement. In general, sessions take place once a week, and over time, may move to a biweekly format. In special cases, sessions may occur more than once a week.
Each session will last 50 minutes. Your time slot will be reserved exclusively for you, and the psychotherapist will be fully available during this period. In case of lateness, the session time will not be extended. If you need to cancel or reschedule, please notify in advance, except in cases of emergency. Remember, it is the client’s responsibility to keep track of their session time—so please set a reminder on your phone or write it down.
Extended absences for holidays, breaks, or other reasons should be communicated in advance so that your time slot can be held. Absences for more than two consecutive sessions without prior agreement may result in the termination of this agreement and the loss of your time slot, except in cases of illness.
The therapist’s vacation periods will include a holiday break during Christmas and New Year, as well as two or more additional breaks throughout the year, all of which will be communicated in advance.
Fees, dates, and payment methods.
Fees must be paid to the psychotherapist in advance, either by the 10th (tenth) of each month or at the end of each session, via bank transfer to Banco Itaú 341, Branch 9098, Account 03.201-5, or through PIX key: nandopigato@gmail.com. For payments sent from abroad in foreign currency, please request the IBAN and SWIFT codes or alternative methods compatible with your local currency. Any transfer fees will be the responsibility of the client. All accounts are held in the name of the psychotherapist Edmar Fernando Pigato. The transfer or deposit receipt will serve as proof of payment. Fees will be agreed upon and may be adjusted with prior notice.
In case of late payments, sessions may be suspended, and your preferred appointment slot may be reassigned.
Termination of this agreement may occur at any time by either party, provided prior notice is given so that the professional can properly close the therapeutic relationship, provide necessary feedback, and, if needed, arrange appropriate referrals.
The legal bases for online psychotherapy.
In November 2018, Resolution 011/2018 of the Federal Council of Psychology came into effect, which regulates, registers, and authorizes professionals to provide services through the online modality.
Services will be provided in accordance with Law 8.078/90 regarding the provision of services by freelance professionals, as well as with the Psychologist’s Professional Code of Ethics No. 10/2005 of the Federal Council of Psychology.
I count on you for us to succeed in the psychotherapeutic process!
Fernando Pigato CRP 06.78/707