Individual Counseling

What is individual counseling?

Individual counseling can be helpful for a wide variety of issues ranging from feeling overwhelmed by day-to-day life challenges to making serious changes in your life.

Counseling also addresses more complex issues like addictions, depression, anxiety, trauma/PTSD, or significant relationship problems.

If you feel like you aren’t your usual self lately, but you aren’t sure why, or if some things are bothering you but are difficult to talk about, individual counseling can help you work through these issues with a licensed counselor.

Counseling offers an opportunity to be heard and supported without judgment.

Counseling is different from talking with a friend.

Talking with friends or relatives is very important. It can be helpful in many situations, but there are a few key differences between talking with a professional counselor and talking with someone you know.

One big difference is that your friends and family are in a personal relationship with you that they value, which may prevent them from being unbiased.

Their relationship with you may also limit their ability to be fully honest about difficult topics because they feel invested in being your friend or relative. They wouldn’t want to risk losing or damaging their relationship with you.

On the other hand, having a personal relationship with you does not constrain your therapist. As such, they can look at your situation without the biases of friends and can more efficiently help you see things you didn’t notice about your situation.

Therapy focuses on YOUR needs.

When you are in therapy, you get to have a relationship that is focused on you and what you need. Unlike your friendships, your therapeutic relationship is based only on your needs (not your therapist’s needs). You don’t have to worry about hurting your therapist’s feelings because it is their job to manage that outside therapy.

A therapeutic relationship gives you the freedom to explore who you are and how you feel and gives you a chance to say what you think without any judgment or worrying about how others may feel.

Trying this with people outside of therapy may not win you many friends and even end some friendships. However, in therapy, this freedom provides you with the therapeutic environment that makes it possible to work through the challenging issues that brought you to therapy.

Counseling helps address many types of problems.

Individual counseling is very versatile, and people can benefit from it when dealing with virtually any issue.

Some of the most common reasons for seeking individual counseling include difficulty adjusting to life changes and transitions, coping with traumatic life experiences, and difficulty managing feelings, such as depression, stress, anxiety, and anger.

Other common issues that I help clients with include dissatisfaction in relationships, parenting challenges, men’s issues, substance addiction such as alcohol or opioids, or other addictions such as food or pornography.

Don’t go it alone! Individual counseling offers an opportunity for you to work through whatever has you down. Together, we can find solutions, allowing you to get on with life without those unnecessary stresses and struggles.

Contact me today at (912) 777-9842. I want to take this journey of discovery with you.

Clinical Supervisor: Douglas A. Spears, Ph.D., M.Div., LPC, CPCS, LPCC/s, Director of LifeCHANGE Christian Counseling Services (912-421-8699)