About Individual Therapy:
Individual therapy is a joint process between you and I. As your therapist, I am invested in helping you reach your goals. People may seek therapy for help with issues that are difficult to face alone. Individual therapy is commonly referred to as psychotherapy, psychosocial therapy, talk therapy, or counseling.
Therapy has efficacy for both helping clients recognize obstacles they are currently facing and developing the tools needed in order to face these obstacles with empowerment and courage. Therapy encourages self-care, and promotes growth, by making healthier decisions that are congruent with your core values. Many clients find they enjoy the therapeutic journey of becoming more self-aware.
What does a person go to therapy for?
Therapy provides a neutral space to address emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and relational components of oneself. Concerns that may be discussed in therapy include, but are not limited to:
Anxiety
Depression
Stress management
Self-esteem
Eating disorders
Body image
Anger
Relationship or marriage challenges
Addiction
Trauma
Family issues
Sexuality
How long are therapy sessions?
Individual therapy sessions are 50 minutes.
How often will a person need to go to therapy?
Given each person has unique experiences that have led them to seek therapy, the following information will help me determine how frequently we should meet for sessions:
The presenting problems
The severity of the distress your presenting problems are currently causing you
How much the issue affects day-to-day life
The pace at which you are meeting your therapeutic goals
Financial limitations
Some concerns can be addressed through short-term therapy over a few weeks. However, chronic or more complex concerns can require long-term treatment. Sometimes, it may take more than a year for noticeable progress to be made.
What to expect:
The first session of therapy often focuses on gathering information. I’ll speak with you about your past physical, mental, and emotional health. We’ll also discuss the concerns bringing you to therapy. It can take a few sessions to develop a concrete understanding of your experiences and determine the best course of action.
In my opinion, a collaborative therapeutic relationship is critical to the therapy process. I encourage clients to utilize our first few sessions in order to determine whether or not you feel I am a good fit to help you meet your goals. Finding a therapist you are comfortable with is vital to successful treatment.
Individual Therapy in Atlanta
Individual therapy is one of the most popular forms of therapy because it offers each client the personal and focused attention necessary to create positive change. The first session serves as a kind of introduction. Subsequent sessions are useful in clarifying the goals of the therapy and tracking progress towards achieving those goals.
The initial session is a critical time to get to understand the basic contours of the issue. People come into therapy because they have exhausted all other means of coping with the problem. During the first session, the therapist and client have a discussion to see if the therapist’s services can be helpful. During the preliminary session, the therapist will often initiate a discussion about the client’s previous physical, emotional and psychological health.
Beginning the Therapeutic Process
Therapy is based on establishing trust and developing an effective treatment plan to address the actual problem faced by the client. This is often a process that takes some time, and there is no universal solution to any problem. This is why the initial sessions account for the issue of compatibility. This simply means that a certain amount of time and effort must be spent on determining if the therapist's style is a good fit for the client's personality and particular issues.
Compatibility between the client and the therapist is essential for having a positive outcome. The first few sessions help to establish the methods that will be used for engaging in deeper discussions. If the client feels that the therapist has insights that are helpful, a collaboration can begin. The best outcomes happen when the therapist and client establish the dynamic of a therapeutic partnership. The therapeutic space is cultivated as a supportive and neutral environment. This enables them to delve into topics and issues that can be uncomfortable.
Atlanta Mental Health Therapist
Common issues addressed in therapy may include the following:
Relationship, marriage or family problems
Body image and self-esteem issues
Traumatic life events
Problems with anger, addiction or stress
Emotional disturbances, anger or depression
Substance abuse
Sexual identity and self-image
The therapist is a trained professional who can guide you through the process of facing these difficult areas of your life. Personal wellness often goes together with emotional and psychological health. Many clients experience improvements in their physical health as a result of the work done on these other areas. The qualified therapist maintains a strong, neutral environment for the therapeutic process to unfold. Clients often discover a renewed sense of energy and enjoyment while taking this therapeutic sojourn.
Length of Therapeutic Sessions
Short-term and long-term therapy is available. Some clients might be able to address the underlying issues that brought them to the therapist’s office within a few weeks. However, long-term sessions are often necessary for complicated situations, chronic problems and severe issues that have a debilitating effect on the person’s daily life.
How Individual Therapy Works
The process begins with the discussion about the issue that brought the person into therapy. The therapist will seek to discover the nature and severity of the underlying problem before recommending short-term or long-term therapy. This includes an analysis of the problem as well as the impact it has on the client’s daily life. Other factors can influence the outcome, and this may include the personal capacity of the client to invest emotionally and financially in the therapeutic process.
Why Seek Individual Therapy Sessions?
People will often seek out individual therapy sessions initially to relieve the feeling of being alone or isolated while struggling with personal issues. Over time, the therapy sessions begin to empower each person with new tools that address specific problems. Many clients eventually notice that taking the therapeutic journey enhances their self-awareness.
LAUREN ENDER
