Individual Psychotherapy Clinic Q&A

Individual psychotherapy is a type of counseling that is focused on helping an individual to resolve personal problems. This type of counseling is different from the type of counseling that is focused on helping a group of people. Individual psychotherapy is often used to treat problems that are specific to the individual; therefore, it is highly effective for treating a wide number of conditions.

There are different types of individual therapy that one may choose to go through; they are typically categorized into four main types:

• Psychodynamic Therapy — A long-form mental illness treatment where your therapist prompts you to talk about anything on your mind to uncover negative patterns, psychodynamic therapy involves talking about your thought patterns, emotions, and relationships to see how they contribute to your mental health. Psychodynamic therapy is one of the longest forms of mental illness treatment; it often lasts for years.
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — With a focus on identifying feelings and beliefs and how they influence situations in one’s life, CBT helps patients develop ways to convert negative thoughts into positive ones.
• Behavioral Therapy — Similar to CBT but with more of a focus on behaviors and how they are learned from past experiences, Behavioral Therapy can help you change your behavioral reactions and patterns.
• Humanistic Therapy — Using an approach that studies your worldview to see how it influences your choices, humanist specialists recognize you are the best person to understand yourself. You study your feelings and try to improve your self-acceptance, which is good for trauma, self-esteem issues, depression, and drug use disorder.

The four main forms of psychotherapy are
• 1. Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapies
• 2. Behavioral Therapy (with subcategories)
• Aversion Therapy
• Systematic Desensitization
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Rational Emotive Therapy
• 3. Cognitive Therapy (CT)
• 4. Humanistic Therapy
• Gestalt
• Existential Therapy
• Person-Centered Therapy

Individual therapy has many goals, some of the most prominent of which include:

• Adding to your support network
• Facilitating lifestyle changes
• Gaining a better understanding of yourself
• Identifying underlying causes of mental health symptoms
• Learning how to handle your emotions
• Managing problematic symptoms
• Providing new coping strategies

Regardless of what a person’s mental health issues may be, individual therapy can be a life-changing experience. However, this form of therapeutic care can be made much more effective in improving the patient’s quality of life if they set goals for individual therapy.

Many people can benefit from therapy. A person does not have to be hearing voices or having suicidal thoughts to seek help; in fact, it is better to start therapy before things begin to feel out of control. For a person to determine whether they might need therapy, the American Psychological Association (APA) suggests contemplating these questions:

• Is it interfering with the quality of life?
• To cope with the issue, have changes in daily activities been necessary?
• Has the issue adversely affected personal/professional relationships, work or school performance?

Other signs include:

• changes in sleep habits
• overwhelming sadness that does not go away
• excessive, nonstop worrying
• difficulty focusing
• self-harm behaviors, such as excessive drinking

That said, even if a person just has internal struggles that they want to discuss, however, they do not feel comfortable opening up about their issues to friends and family, seeking therapy could be a great option and a viable way to receive an unbiased, impartial and wholly professional opinion.

Individual psychotherapy is important because it will help you:

• Develop fresh insights about your life & patterns
• Learn tools to handle emotions and problems
• Improve relationships
• Feel empowered
 
The mental health professionals at Psychiatry of the Palm Beaches are dedicated to providing you with all of your individual psychotherapy needs. We look forward to serving you! For more information, contact us or schedule an appointment online. We have convenient locations to serve you. We serve patients from Boynton Beach FL, Delray Beach FL, Palm Beach Gardens FL, Jupiter FL, Stuart FL, Palm City FL, Royal Palm Beach FL, Wellington FL, Vero Beach FL, Citrus Ridge FL, Plantation FL, Sunrise FL, Jacksonville FL, Riverside FL, Port St. Lucie FL, Beau Rivage West FL, Melbourne FL, Palm Bay FL, and surrounding areas.