What exactly is Individual Therapy?
Individual therapy (sometimes called “counseling" or “psychotherapy) is a process through which clients work one-on-one with a licensed therapist—in a non-confrontational, non-judging, and confidential environment—to explore their feelings, beliefs, or behaviors, work through challenging or influential memories, identify parts of their lives that they would like to change, better understand themselves and others, set personal goals, and strive toward desired change.
People seek therapy for a wide variety of reasons, from dealing with major life challenges or childhood trauma, to dealing with anger issues, stress, or depression, to simply desiring personal growth and greater self-knowledge. A client and therapist may work together for a few sessions or as long as several years, depending on the client’s unique needs and personal goals for therapy.
What should I do to get started?
Your initial step is to call us to schedule your first appointment. You will be asked to provide some information over the phone to help us evaluate if our services would be your best treatment option. You may then be scheduled for an initial evaluation session to provide background about yourself and the reasons you are seeking counseling. In addition, during this intake the therapist will be able to answer your questions regarding services, fees, confidentiality and what to expect in therapy.
At the end of that first session, if we mutually agree that it is in your best interest to move forward, we will decide on an agreeable time for your therapy sessions (typically, the client and therapist will meet once a week, and each session will last approximately one hour). At your second appointment, you will begin working with your therapist to set goals for your therapy experience and then begin working together toward achieving them.