Individual Counseling
Individual
counseling is an opportunity to talk confidentially with a counselor
about personal concerns and to facilitate personal growth. The counselor
and client work together to define and discuss personal issues and to
reach mutually agreed upon goals. Individual counseling facilitates the
exploration and resolution of personal problems and issues according to
the needs of the individual. We will help you to define your goals and
accomplish them in the shortest period of time.
Individual,
short-term counseling can assist you in clarifying your concerns,
assessing the effectiveness of previously attempted solutions, and
generating new coping strategies. It is not uncommon to experience some
amount of apprehension about first meeting with a counselor. You may be
wondering what will happen, how you will react, what your therapist
will be like, and whether or not the experience will be truly helpful.
Most individuals report that these feelings pass with time, and that
they benefit a great deal from their counseling experience. We encourage
you to discuss any feelings of apprehension you may have about
counseling with your counselor.
What
will happen in counseling depends on the special needs and strengths of
each person seeking assistance. For this reason, each counseling
experience is unique, just as each individual is unique. The first one
or two meetings are usually spent clarifying the problem and examining
what solutions have already been attempted. This is often referred to as
the assessment phase of counseling. During this time your counselor may
gather information about your past, your personal style and
relationship patterns, as well as your intellectual and emotional
functioning. This aids the counselor in determining which counseling
strategies might be most helpful for you. Once given the chance to
clarify your issues, you and the counselor will be better able to
formulate realistic, achievable counseling goals.
There
are many different approaches available to you in working toward problem
resolution. Typically this phase of treatment will include learning new
problem-solving or coping skills, increasing self-understanding,
exploring life patterns, and gaining a better sense of how you are
influenced by relationships and your surroundings. Counselors frequently
focus on the individuals unique strengths and past success experiences
in this phase of treatment. Working together, you and your counselor can
identify and implement the most effective solutions based on your
unique circumstances.
Getting The Most Out of Counseling
Define your goals.
Think about what you would like to get out of counseling. It might be
helpful to jot down a list of events, relationship issues, and feelings
that you think are contributing to your distress. Take time before each
session to consider your expectations for that session. As counseling
progresses, longer-term goals may emerge along with some ideas about how
to progress toward these goals. Consider how you feel about the
counseling relationship. Since a good working relationship is vital to
successful counseling, you will want to experience a satisfying level of
trust and understanding with your counselor. Nonetheless,
self-exploration and change involve hard work, and sometimes painful
feelings are stirred up in the process of healing. Therefore, it may be
unrealistic to expect that you will feel completely comfortable at all
times with your counselor. Counselors are trained to pay close attention
to these issues and will probably encourage you to discuss these
feelings openly. Because counseling is a mutual enterprise, you and your
counselor may also make adjustments in your working style to better
meet your needs for both encouragement and support.
Be an active participant.
This is your counseling process, so be as active as you wish in
deciding how to use the time. Be honest with the counselor and give her
or him feedback about how you see the sessions progressing.
Recognize
and express feelings. The recognition, acceptance, and expression of
feelings pave the way for personal growth and change. Thoughts and
feelings are equally important in working through difficulties. Your
counselor will work with you to integrate your thoughts and emotions in a
balanced way.
Be patient with yourself.
Growth takes time, effort, and patience. All of your coping skills,
behavior patterns and self-perceptions have been learned and reinforced
over a long period of time. Changing what has become such an integral
part of yourself is very difficult and at times slow. By having patience
with yourself and accepting and understanding the natural resistance we
all feel toward change, you set the foundation for developing and
changing in more appropriate and satisfying directions.
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