First Counselor appointment tomorrow

Hi, I am meeting with the counselor for the first time tomorrow. Can anyone tell me what you talk about and what you should ask or not tell. LOL Thank you

The meeting is for your benefit - just tell the truth - it's that simple!

He will ask your weight history and talk about your family health history. Be honest and open. 

Be honest.  Most of them can see through the lies.

The counselor will ask you why you want to have surgery.  Like Kim said, tell the truth.  Otherwise you're only lying to yourself.  Good luck.

Ditto As previous posters. Mine was last month the therepist asks about family support system. And why you want the surgery along with any meds you are on.  She was ver nice.  Be open and honest. It doesn't last long

definitely be honest & open but for me I didn't go into great detail about my family life, my thing was that this woman didn't know me from a can of paint and I wasn't gonna have 1 person who has zero experience with me determine if I could have the surgery or not, with that said they usually want to know if you have your head on straight & not go into this with unrealistic expectations, as well as see if you have any symptoms of mental disease. I don't remember asking her anything. Good luck!

Just remember, it's a readiness screening; not a counseling session!  Answer all questions truthfully.  But you don't have to go into needless detail.  You won't be asking any questions.  And s/he will likely tell you how you did at the end of your session. 

If you're confident in your decision, that will comes across to your evaluator and you'll be fine.

Yeah I agree with everyone else. Just don't tell them you see unicorns and fairy dust because then they might be concerened. Sorry just kidding with you. I wish you best of luck and it is really not that bad I went to two different programs so I went through it twice and passed both times.

I am a psychotherapist who has done evaluations for surgery.

The psychological evaluation is primarily to evaluate your ability to handle weight loss surgery and the requirements of diet and exercise ha*****ange that will come after. It is major permanent surgery, and the evaluation will help determine your readiness for those changes.

It also evaluates for preexisting conditions such as depression, anxiety, or other forms of mental illness that might impact your ability to respond well to the surgery and those changes which are essential for short term as well as long term success. In addition pre-existing mental health issues can effect the risk of complications.

Many surgeons have gotten stricter about the mental health requirements for surgical workup than they used to be because so many people have had difficulty managing the requirements post-op.

The other thing is that surgery does not operate on the brain and can't cut away emotional pain. Therapy can be very useful post-op with adjusting to new body image, which is very resistant to change. It can also be helpful with working on old thinking and habit patterns and establishing new ones, which simply has to happen, especially after the honeymoon ends.

I would suggest being as honest as possible for your own sake and benefit. The therapist will be on your side and supportive of what you need. It is not a pass/fail test.