Our counselors provide therapy in Raleigh, NC

My go-to approach for helping you in individual therapy is to first actively listen to and connect with your story. We will then collaborate to create an individualized therapeutic approach that best matches your needs. I find the approach with the best benefit for most clients is a cognitive behavioral therapy approach, which we often will supplement with dialectical behavioral and/or solution-focused therapy techniques. The most important thing for you, the client, is to know that any therapy approach used will be tailored to best meet you where YOU are, throughout your journey.

I teach the following tools in individual therapy:

• Psychoeducation: When you discover your untapped ability to make changes about how you think, you will in turn change everything about your life!
• Deep breathing: Developing the practice of using your senses to directly communicate calmness and clarity to the mind grows your ability to navigate the world with more empowerment and less anxiety. Consistent use of breath practice also promotes a stronger sense of inner awareness to allow you to discover your own answers from within.
• Mindfulness: Developing the practice of mindfulness is essential to halting the continued assault on your senses created by the world's 24/7 chaos. By developing the ability to better direct your thoughts, you will shut the door on all the noise when YOU choose. As a result, you will feel less overwhelmed by the presumed expectation that you must solve every challenge all at once. When you focus on “this moment,” you experience lowered anxiety, more inner peace, and more creativity to approach a challenge.
• Thought reframing: Sometimes we just need to be able to shift our focus a few degrees to see things entirely differently than the assumptions or negative views that keep us trapped and unable to see there are ALWAYS MORE POSSIBILITIES!
• Grounding: Keeping your feet “on the ground” is essential to allow for clear thinking and is an invaluable tool for calming severe anxiety or panic attacks.
• Therapeutic workbooks: Verbalizing your thoughts in writing rather than visualizing only in your mind provides deeper processing of new thinking and better integration of learned skills.

I know a client is making meaningful progress in individual therapy when he/she begins to authentically verbalize understanding of needed changes followed by consistent implementation of learned skills into daily life. When this happens, lowered anxiety and a more positive mood soon follow.

Clients can supplement individual therapy time by consistently implementing techniques covered in sessions. The most significant change happens in the individual work done between sessions, not in the sessions themselves.

To prepare for your first individual therapy session, I encourage you to be ready to answer the following questions:

• What do you want to change, accomplish, or make better in therapy?
• What would life be like if your symptoms were significantly improved?
• What are you prepared to bring to the therapy process in order to accomplish the change you are seeking?