Individual
Therapy for Different Mental Health Difficulties
Individual therapy is a joint process between a therapist and a person in therapy. Common goals of therapy can be to inspire change or improve quality of life. People may seek therapy for help with issues that are hard to face alone. Individual therapy deals with different mental health difficulties, is also called therapy, psychotherapy, psychosocial therapy, talk therapy, and counselling.
Therapy can help people overcome obstacles to their well-being and improve their mental health. It can increase positive feelings, such as compassion and self-esteem. People in therapy can learn skills for handling difficult situations, making healthy decisions, and reaching goals. Many find they enjoy the therapeutic journey of becoming more self-aware. Some people even go to ongoing therapy for self-growth.
Naturally, the duration of the therapy depends on the complexity of the situation, but by employing evidence-based techniques in psychotherapy – which works in a systematic and goal-directed fashion – the client feels gradual and tangible relief throughout the process.
“Never wait for a perfect moment, just take a moment and make it perfect.”
Typical challenges that can be addressed include
- Interpersonal and relationship difficulties
- Divorce and separation
- Trauma
- Bereavement
- Depression (including Bipolar Mood Disorder)
- Issues with weight, body image and/or eating disorders
- Adjustment
- Self-image/esteem issues
- Personal Growth
- Anxiety, stress and/or panic, social anxiety or phobias
- Enhancing overall wellness and mindfulness
- Expat life
- Anger Management
- Stress Management
- Health difficulties such as cancer, chronic illness and pain management
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in both adults and children
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Postpartum depression and perinatal anxiety
- Personality disorders including Borderline personality disorder
- Recovery after sexual abuse, sexual trauma, torture or gender-based violence.
My therapy approach
I work integratively with my clients. This therapy is an approach to treatment that involves selecting the techniques from different therapeutic orientations best suited to a client’s particular problem. By tailoring the therapy to the individual, integrative therapists hope to produce the most significant effects.
Unlike some single-school approaches, integrative therapy is not restricted to a particular methodology or school of thought. Instead, therapists can draw on different techniques as they are needed. The goal of this is to improve the efficacy and efficiency of treatment and adapt it to the specific needs of the individual. I mainly draw from the following approaches:
Cognitive-behavioural therapy
(CBT) is an approach that focuses on changing the way that people think. CBT suggests that the automatic negative thoughts that people experience contribute to psychological problems. It is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.
Acceptance and commitment therapy
(ACT) is a type of psychotherapy that emphasizes acceptance as a way to deal with negative thoughts, feelings, symptoms, or circumstances. It also encourages increased commitment to healthy, constructive activities that uphold your values or goals. ACT therapists operate under a theory that suggests that increasing acceptance can lead to increased psychological flexibility. This approach carries a host of benefits, and it may help people stop habitually avoiding certain thoughts or emotional experiences, which can lead to further problems.
Compassion-focused therapy
(CFT) aims to help promote mental and emotional healing by encouraging people in treatment to be compassionate toward themselves and other people. Compassion, both toward the self and toward others, is an emotional response believed by many to be an essential aspect of well-being. Its development may often have the benefit of improved mental and emotional health.
Dialectical-behavioural therapy skills
(DBT) as a way for clients to learn how to gain awareness of, and learn to accept their emotions. Its main goals are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others.
Systemic therapy
Systemic therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on how an individual’s personal relationships, behavior patterns, and life choices are interconnected with the issues they face in their life. It also looks at how parts of a system affect one another to sustain the stability and equilibrium of the whole system.