Individual therapy (sometimes called “psychotherapy” or “counseling”) is a process through
which clients work one-on-one with a trained therapist—in a safe, caring, and confidential
environment—to explore their feelings, beliefs, or behaviors, work through challenging or
influential memories, identify aspects of their lives that they would like to change, better
understand themselves and others, set personal goals, and work toward desired change.
People seek therapy for a wide variety of reasons, from coping with major life challenges or
childhood trauma, to dealing with depression or anxiety, to simply desiring personal growth and
greater self-knowledge. A client and therapist may work together for as few as five or six
sessions or as long as several years, depending on the client’s unique needs and personal
goals for therapy.
What Can Psychotherapy Help With?
Therapy can help treat mental, emotional, physical, and behavioral issues. Concerns that may
be discussed in therapy include, but are not limited to:
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Food and eating issues
• Anger
• Relationship or marriage challenges
• Addiction
• Abuse
• Family issues
• Insomnia
• Sexuality
Individual therapy is a joint process between a therapist and a person in therapy. Common
goals of therapy can be to inspire change or improve quality of life. People may seek therapy for
help with issues that are hard to face alone. Individual therapy is also called therapy,
psychotherapy, psychosocial therapy, talk therapy, and counseling.
Therapy can help people overcome obstacles to their well-being. It can increase positive
feelings, such as compassion and self-esteem. People in therapy can learn skills for handling
difficult situations, making healthy decisions, and reaching goals. Many find they enjoy the
therapeutic journey of becoming more self-aware. Some people even go to ongoing therapy for
self-growth.