Individual therapy means that you come to see your therapist on your own. You attend sessions without your spouse and/or children. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t address those important relationships.
Humans are relational beings. What happens in your lives affects all of our relationships. Likewise, what happens in our relationships greatly affects our emotional health. Individual therapy helps you figure out what’s going on within you as well as what’s going on in your relationships so that you can make the best decisions for your own life.
Many people want to know what happens in therapy.
There are many different approaches to individual therapy, of course. We are well-versed in many different approaches to therapy. Therefore, we are able to help you utilize tools from a variety of different therapeutic approaches. We believe that you are a unique individual with strengths and needs and that the best way to approach therapy is to find out exactly what will work best for you.
Therefore, therapy begins with a comprehensive assessment that allows us to really get to know you. We don’t want to just throw a bunch of ideas at the wall to see what sticks in a “hit or miss” approach. You are a busy person with a full life to lead and we don’t want to waste your time with inappropriate goals or ineffective treatment. So we work hard with you at the beginning to really invest time in figuring out what therapeutic approaches are going to suit you best. Together, we make this commitment because we both want therapy to be successful for you.
Individual Therapy Can Be Fun
If your mental image of therapy is sitting on a couch crying into a tissue while your therapist listens quietly, then you may be surprised to learn that individual therapy has a lot more to offer. Of course, if you experience feelings of sadness and need to cry quietly, that’s perfectly okay. That might be part of your process. But you are a multi-faceted human being with many different emotions and it’s possible to explore all of them through individual therapy.
Sometimes, therapy might even be fun. While we often think of “play therapy” as something for children, there are aspects of it that you can incorporate into individual adult therapy as well. When was the last time that you just played? Doesn’t that sound so freeing? You might express yourself through drawing or acting. Of course, in therapy, we use what we learn to help you through challenges and problem-solving. Nevertheless, there might be play, and it might be fun.
Get to Know Yourself and Fully Be Yourself
Individual therapy can offer so many benefits to your life. You can work through the past so that it no longer looms over your present. You can address immediate problems you’re facing in relationships, work, and health. And you can set goals for the future. You can learn new skills in problem-solving, communication, relationship-building, and other areas of life.
More than anything else, though, through individual therapy you will get to fully know yourself and be yourself in all settings. There are many different sides to our minds, behavior, and personality. We see ourselves a certain way, but that’s often only a sliver of the full truth of who we are. The better you know yourself, the more you can accept yourself. The more you accept yourself, the easier it becomes to make the decisions that allow you to thrive. As you become familiar with all aspects of your own being, you also become more capable of articulating that person to others. This allows your relationships to grow in new ways. It’s a powerful, transformational experience.
You can’t know what individual therapy will offer to you until you give it a try. Reach out for an appointment today.
