Our counselors provide therapy in Kingwood, TX

My approach for individual therapy is to first establish a good rapport with the clients. I welcome questions along the way, and especially in intake let them know they can share what they are comfortable with and to respect their boundaries.

I work with the client while teaching breathing exercises, mindfulness, grounding techniques, guided imagery, journaling exercises, and worksheets.

I know a client is making meaningful progress in therapy when they are gaining more insight into their issues, start catching themselves with old thinking and problem solving patterns. Also when they discuss how they are starting to feel like themselves again, starting to do more tasks (job, home), as well as show increased motivation for some of their fun activities again.

Clients can do many things in their personal time to supplement individual therapy. They can supplement their time between sessions by working on some of the exercises and techniques reviewed with them in sessions. Journaling is good as well - reflecting on issues that are being worked on in therapy, gratitude journals, daily journaling, art, journaling about a specific interest or activity—travel, cooking, hiking—can all be beneficial. Other activities like taking a walk out in nature or hanging out with friends is also good. Practicing self-compassion and letting yourself just be and to get plenty of rest is also helpful.

To prepare for your first individual therapy session, you can write down a list of concerns you have. This can include current stressors in your life, past issues/events that have occurred that you may want to address, as well as current symptoms and how long you have been experiencing them. Of course, you will want to think about what you want to work on while in therapy, as well as what goals you want to strive for.