I wish that there was a way to step through or over the history gathering but that is an essential part of the counselling process. I am not a therapist that spends a lot of time focusing on the past and it is not our starting point to focus on past trauma or major points of distress. Rather, I like to understand people’s current life and context- their work/education, relationships, hobbies, coping, and so forth so that we can build on that. Sometimes knowing that we are not going to jump into past trauma and discomfort eases people’s apprehensions about starting with a new provider. Even for people who have gone to multiple therapists over the years, none have complained about my approach to history gathering.