What is Therapy?

Personal counseling is a chance to talk over issues that are important to you with an objective person who has professional training in helping people work through current situations and learn to effectively manage similar situations in the future. Some of the problems that people discuss with counselors include, but are not limited to, relationship problems, academic/school-related problems, depression, anxiety, trauma, abuse, substance issues, and/or issues from the past that negatively affect the person’s daily functioning. Therapy can sometimes be emotionally painful and uncomfortable as you navigate through the emotional scars, fears, worries, and pain that has brought you to counseling. 

What typically happens in a session?

A typical session is 50 minutes which is often referred to as a therapeutic hour.  You can expect that during your time you will be listened to about your experiences and asked pertinent questions about your life experiences both past and present. You will probably be asked some questions about your background, including your family, atypical experiences, and your relationships with others. The counselor will also ask what you hope to get out of counseling or what your goals are. Sometimes the counselor may assign psychological “homework” as one method for the client to make progress outside of the meetings.

How often do you go?

Most people come to counseling once per week in the beginning to work on their concerns. To create a good therapeutic relationship it is helpful and encouraged to have consistent weekly sessions for an undetermined amount of time.  As goals are obtained you or your therapist may feel weekly sessions are no longer needed and you may find yourself doing bi-weekly sessions and or telemedicine sessions as you make the transition out of counseling.

What is CBT

 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a short term, problem focused form of treatment that works on the relationship between  thoughts, beliefs, and feelings and how they affect our behavior and emotions. CBT is an effective treatment method for a variety of issues but for some issues such as Anxiety based fears it is not uncommon that participants find some of the work uncomfortable as you are asked to confront what it is that you fear in a controlled environment.  We call that exposure and while it can be an effective treatment modality it can also be uncomfortable.