Individual Counseling

Sometimes you know exactly what you want help with. Other times, you may just know that something doesn’t feel right.

Individual counseling gives you a place to talk openly about what you’re experiencing, better understand yourself and the patterns affecting your life, and work toward changes that are important to you. You don’t have to be in crisis or have everything figured out before reaching out for help.

Individual counseling may be helpful if you’re experiencing:

  • Anxiety, worry, or feeling overwhelmed

  • Depression, low motivation, or feeling disconnected from yourself or others

  • Stress or burnout

  • Trauma or difficult experiences from the past

  • Grief and loss

  • Relationship or family difficulties

  • Major life changes or transitions

  • Low self-esteem or difficulty trusting yourself

  • Difficulty setting boundaries or putting your own needs into consideration

  • Patterns you keep finding yourself repeating

  • Parenting or caregiving stress

  • Chronic illness or adjusting to changes in your health

  • Feeling stuck or unsure about what you want

  • A desire to better understand yourself, your relationships, or what matters to you

How can individual counseling help?

Individual counseling isn’t about having someone tell you what you should do. It’s a collaborative process where you and your therapist can look more closely at what you’re experiencing and what you’d like to be different.

Depending on what brings you to counseling, therapy might help you:

  • Better understand patterns in your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, or relationships

  • Develop healthier ways of responding to stress and difficult emotions

  • Process painful or traumatic experiences

  • Learn to set and maintain healthier boundaries

  • Improve communication and relationships

  • Build confidence and greater trust in yourself

  • Adjust to changes, losses, or transitions

  • Make changes in patterns that no longer work for you

What does individual counseling look like?

Your therapist will begin by getting to know you, what has been happening in your life, and what you hope counseling might help with. You’ll work together to decide what you'd like to focus on and what approaches may be helpful.

Some sessions may focus on what is happening in your life right now, while others may involve understanding earlier experiences or patterns that continue to affect you. Depending on your needs and your therapist’s training, counseling may also include learning new skills or using specific approaches to work with anxiety, trauma, difficult emotions, relationships, or other concerns.

There isn’t one “right” way to come to counseling. Your goals can also change as you begin to understand yourself and what you need more clearly.

Getting started

You don’t need to know exactly what kind of therapy you need before reaching out. Part of the process is finding a therapist who feels like a good fit and talking together about what you’d like help with.