Individual counseling is an opportunity for you to find support as you work through challenges in your life. The primary goal is for you to have one-on-one time with a Christian counselor so you can discover the help you need as a unique child of God.
Topics for individual counseling cover a broad range, giving you the freedom to discuss whatever things you a struggling with so you find hope and healing.
Get connected with a Christian Counselor
Please contact our reception team at
(469) 333-6163
Individual counseling is the most traditional form of counseling people think of. It involves a counselor and an individual spending time together to process whatever the person needs help sorting out mentally and emotionally, traditionally with a form of talk therapy.
The counselor is trained to help you identify what you are struggling with and develop methods to work through those things. This is achieved as you and the counselor spend time together and develop a trusting relationship that allows you to talk about things that can be difficult to talk about with others.
The counselor also provides a trained outside perspective, giving you the opportunity to learn more about yourself than you would by talking to a family member or close friend. The counselor will guide you to look at, question, and understand things in a new way. This promotes growth for you as a person.
Your time in individual therapy will help you face things with support instead of dealing with them alone.
The topics covered in individual counseling have a wide range that allows you the opportunity to address many different things. While the counselor may guide you to focus on one thing at a time, there is the freedom to talk about many different feelings and situations to help you grow and promote healing.
Common topics cover a range of areas from behavioral, mental, emotional, physical, and relational issues. These can be things that are long-term struggles or situational and temporary struggles.
Some topics include:
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Worry
- Family issues
- Grief
- Job loss
- Divorce
- Food & eating issues
- Trauma/traumatic events
- Unresolved childhood issues
- Addiction
- Sexuality
- Abuse
- Obsessive tendencies
- Parenting
- Insecurity
- Marriage
- Anger
- Substance abuse
Individual counseling is not limited to these topics. It can even address a general feeling of unsettledness or like something is “off” by talking with you and helping you identify what you are feeling and how to work through it.
Your experience with individual counseling is specific to you and what you need. You and your counselor will work together to help you find the help, tools, and support you need.
First, it is important to understand with whom you will be working. Professional counselors or counselors can have a variety of titles such as licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), psychologist, counselor, licensed professional counselor (LPC), licensed marriage and family counselor (LMFT), psychiatrist, or psychiatric nurse.
While the exact titles do offer some differences in what they cover or their approach, the most important things are that you are working with someone who is trained in the field and someone with whom you develop a good connection. This sometimes takes a few tries, but it is worth it to find the person you connect with well so you can communicate comfortably.
Your time in individual counseling will involve scheduled time slots to meet with the counselor. The most common schedule is a fifty-minute or one-hour weekly session. However, sometimes counselors work in longer sessions or more frequent sessions to help patients through particularly involved situations. Other times, they recommend biweekly or monthly sessions. This can be due to schedules or because they want to give you more independence between sessions to practice the new skills you’ve learned in earlier appointments.
The majority of individual counseling is done through talk therapy. While this may conjure images of a person laying on a couch while a spectacled counselor looks on and takes notes, that is rarely the case. Typically, you and the counselor will sit comfortably in the office and talk. You can even stand and talk if that is more comfortable.
Counselors understand that people are often talking about hard things. They want you to be comfortable so you can work through as much as possible and discover freedom.
Often, people worry that individual counseling can only include things about themselves. While the focus is always on the individual, we all have connections with other people. Sometimes it is those relationships that are involved in the things with which we are struggling. Your counselor is there to help you in individual counseling, even if it involves another person.
It is important to note, however, that the focus will be on you. It will not be about how to get your spouse to do something different or to address the specific behavior issue your child is exhibiting. Instead, individual counseling offers you the opportunity to talk about these things and your role in the situation.
For example, if you find yourself arguing with your spouse all the time, you can bring that up with the counselor. As you talk through it, the counselor may help you understand your role and give you tools for how you can change your behavior in different situations. If you are looking for help with how you and your spouse can both make changes, the counselor may recommend pursuing marriage counseling. This would give you and your spouse both the opportunity to talk to a counselor together.
When you go to individual counseling, you can find help for how you can navigate the relationships in your life with your behavior, choices, and emotions.
You may be wondering if individual counseling is right for you. When you find the right counselor, individual counseling can provide help for everyone. Whether you are dealing with a big traumatic event or you just want help dealing with everyday life, having a trusted professional with whom to talk to will guide you to a better understanding of yourself, the world around you, and how you handle it all.
If you’re asking yourself the question, the best thing you can do is give it a try.
You’re already off to a great start! You’ve spent some time reading this to better understand what counseling is as well as what it isn’t. Great job!
The next step can feel the hardest, but it only takes a few minutes. Reach out. We understand that initiating contact can feel hard. That’s why we want you to be comfortable. Start by calling the office. If that’s not your style, try emailing us. Making that initial contact isn’t as scary as it seems. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to have a specific counselor chosen. Just reach out.
We can help connect you with the person that best meets your needs and schedule and fits your personality. We are here for you and our goal is to help.
Next, we set up an initial appointment. Sometimes this is called an intake appointment. This gives us the chance to just get to know some details about you and why you’re considering individual counseling. It also gives you the opportunity to ask questions. You are welcome to ask about who we are, our philosophies, how we work, or anything else you’d like to understand before starting.
Once we have that done, we will set up a time to start meeting and helping you with whatever you need.
Feel free to look around the site to learn more about who we are, the services we offer, and meet our counselors. We’re happy to help you get started with your individual counseling journey today!
Get connected with a Christian Counselor
Please contact our reception team at
(469) 333-6163