What to Expect in Individual Therapy
UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE MEETS POWERFUL ENCOURAGEMENT.
Our work begins with your desire for change.
Using a free online therapy platform, you and I meet for an inaugural, 50-minute session to examine what you want to shift in your life. This first meeting allows me to meet you exactly where you are, as you are. Together, we deepen our understanding of why you are reaching out, what’s working, what’s not working, and what your ideal outcomes are.
This first session also provides an opportunity for you to get to know me, what it’s like to speak with me, and to develop an early sense of whether you’d like to build a long-term therapeutic relationship.
Within the first couple of sessions, clients usually gain a strong sense of my therapeutic approach, so that they can feel confident about their decision to continue working with me.
After this initial period, we will continue to engage in an ongoing assessment of our therapeutic relationship. It is common and appropriate for both of us to be checking in on how we are doing together and where we can enhance or improve our process.
Clients often tell me that my approach is unlike that of therapists they’ve worked with before. I often receive feedback along the lines of: “I’ve never felt so seen”; “I never imagined I could share this part of myself with someone without feeling judged”; “I’ve learned more about myself in a few sessions with you than I have in years of work with someone else.” Clients also share that working with me feels challenging, but in a good way.
My approach is engaged, attentive, active, and direct. This direct style of therapy is not for everyone, and that is important to consider as we are deciding whether to enter into a working relationship. “Direct” doesn’t mean unkind, judgey, or insensitive; rather, it means clear, to-the-point, transparent, and honest.
My relationship with each individual therapy client carries its own particular nuances, because each client is their own, unique person. In fact, “nuance” is one of my watchwords; I value a nuanced understanding above all else in therapy. I do not use manualized approaches. Rather, I tailor my practice to reflect who you are, where you are, and what you need.
Accordingly, our sessions will incorporate many aspects of your selfhood including but not limited to:
your defense mechanisms
your mood states, what shifts them, what maintains them
your schema (i.e. how you see yourself, others, the world)
your needs vs. wants vs. desires
how you construct or develop expectations
the way you attach to yourself and others
how you deal with difficult, but normal feelings like anger, rage, joy, sorrow
your past and present relationship history
your gender identity, expression, sexuality, and orientation
your attitudes, values, beliefs
ethnic, cultural, religious, and/or spiritual affiliations
your past and present health status, ability, etc.
privileges versus discriminations
and more