Individual therapy may be short term or long term depending on your needs and goals. Problem solving for situational issues tends to take less time. However, often times there are deeper underlying issues and destructive patterns that are influencing us in our daily lives. You may decide that you are interested in pursuing a deeper level of internal change. In that case, it may call for a longer course of therapy. Individual therapy is an intimate process. The privacy that is vital to the process allows you to reveal feelings and thoughts that you may never before have been able to talk about. It may be the first time you’ve been able to share troubling thoughts without the need to censor yourself. This can be a very liberating and sometimes distressing process. It is important to hang in there when difficult emotions arise so that you can get to the other side and enjoy the benefits of your efforts.
Examples of problems that people present in individual therapy include relationship and attachment issues, breakups and divorce, parenting, family drama, adolescent behavior, compulsive behaviors and substance abuse, eating disorders, low self-esteem, problems at work, phobias, panic attacks, trauma, abuse, financial crisis, and other problems such as depression, anxiety, and anger (and more …).
I have had extensive training in understanding the way the mind and the brain are formed through our experiences and our early relationships. These early experiences affect our ability to regulate our emotions and they create expectations and behaviors that are often distorted or outdated. Growth and healing are possible through identifying and understanding old patterns, promoting healthy relationships, and integrating the healthier parts of the self.