Individual Therapy

When I walk alongside men and women in individual therapy, my hope is that they find the space, freedom and support to say what needs to be said, release what needs to be expressed, and discover what needs to be found.

Have you ever noticed that you find yourself in the same rut over and over again?  Almost like a never-ending cycle of making New Year's resolutions yet not being able to fully follow through with them?  I believe that there are good reasons why we get stuck in the same unhealthy patterns, toxic relationships or self-destructive cycles.

I believe we get stuck in familiar (but not fulfilling) patterns because of emotional wounds and core needs.  When I work with individuals, I am committed to a model of therapy called Emotionally Focused Therapy, because this model:

• helps us understand the places in life where we get stuck
• explains the emotions and needs that fuel those repetitive patterns
  
• offers clues to what you need and how to meet those needs
• makes sense of past wounds, including how those wounds affect life today

When I begin working with individuals, I like to spend a few sessions getting to know you.

Our first session will be a time for us to get to know one another.  I want to learn more about your personal history and what brought you to the place of reaching out for therapy support.  I also like to share about the therapy process and the Emotionally Focused Therapy model.  

After our first session, I will take the next two sessions to get to know more about your world.  I find it helpful to learn about your family and relationship background because I believe these play important roles in your present life.  I also like to take this time for you to get to know me and how I work, to make sure that you feel safe with me.

Finally, I will share my ideas about where we can go from here.  I will share my thoughts and reflections about why you find yourself stuck in various places, and I will offer my suggestions and recommendations about how to move forward with me in therapy.

These are some of the reasons why people reach out to me for individual therapy:

• Anxiety (such as panic attacks, constant worry, etc.)
• Depression
• Trauma (Recent and/or from earlier in life)
• Grief and loss (Death, ending of a relationship, loss of a hope/dream, etc.)
• Problematic patterns in work, relationships, friendships, etc.
• Addiction (to substances, relationships, sexual patterns, etc.)
• Self-injuring behavior
• Family-of-origin wounds or struggles
• Navigating a new life transition