How Does Counseling work?

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People seek counseling for many different reasons. Counseling may include individual, group, and/or family sessions.  Counseling, however is very much a process!  

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Counseling (or therapy, psychotherapy) is the process of meeting with a therapist (or counselor) in order to reduce internal suffering which occurs in the form of problematic behaviors, beliefs, feelings and somatic responses (sensations in the body).  In addition, ongoing psychotherapy is a useful means of self-growth and self-discovery.  It is meant to help you build coping skills to be able to handle negative experiences and emotions. Together with a counselor, you will learn, grow, explore, unpack and understand yourself, your world your suffering and your experiences with new perspective, insight and clarity.  Therapy can also help people to resolve barriers which interfere with positive qualities such as joy, compassion, peace, self-esteem, spiritual connection and love.  Many people enjoy therapy and relish the journey of becoming more conscious about themselves, their inner world and their relationships.  Therapy can also be an effective tool in overcoming the effects of trauma and abuse.  

 

You and your therapist will meet together weekly for 45-minute sessions. Therapy is best done with at least an 8-week commitment. We find that clients who cannot commit to at least 8 weekly sessions and meet less than weekly tend to have more difficulty in establishing a relationship with their therapist and often spend their sessions recapping the previous weeks instead of focusing on forward movement (but there are exceptions).  Despite the 8 week recommendation the process and therapy is a unique process and is discussed during the intake and assessment phase.  After 8 weekly sessions, you and your therapist can discuss the movement toward your treatment goals and whether reducing sessions to biweekly or terminating therapy is the next step as this a process that is very personalized to everyones unique situation.

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