Our counselors provide therapy in Portage, MI

Heather: My go-to approach for helping people in individual therapy is cognitive behavioral therapy. I prefer CBT because it helps clients understand how their environment, thoughts, feelings, and behavior are all related and intertwine with each other. Clients tend to have better success when they are able to understand that their feelings are always valid and that it is their thoughts that we need to work on in order to improve how they are feeling and ultimately change negative behaviors that are a result of those feelings.

Rhoda: My go-to approach for helping people in individual therapy is to help the client understand and process their feelings which ultimately allows for emotional or behavioral change. I enjoy connecting with clients because that connection allows clients to feel heard and safe to make changes.

Heather: I teach the following tools in individual therapy:

• Cognitive restructuring, which involves disputing the distortions that underpin a client’s challenges.
• Journaling, which is a form of self-monitoring that helps clients identify their thought patterns and emotional tendencies.
• Stress reduction exercises such as meditation and progressive muscle relaxation can all be effective CBT tools for managing anxiety.
• Diaphragmatic breathing, which is a mindfulness practice, helps clients learn to regulate their breath and activate their body’s relaxation response.
• Exposure and response prevention, which involves exposing yourself to whatever it is that normally elicits a compulsive behavior, but doing your best to refrain from the behavior.
• Successive approximation, which helps the client to learn about breaking the large goal into small, easy-to-accomplish steps, so they can map out the path to success and make the journey seem a little less overwhelming.

Rhoda: I teach the following tools in individual therapy:

• Help clients identify their negative thought patterns and resulting feelings and behaviors
• Help clients understand their values and where their thoughts and feelings originate
• Help clients modify their negative thoughts and behaviors to more positive
• Help clients learn various coping tools and relaxation techniques such as guided meditation, mindfulness training, and muscle relaxation
• Help clients improve their communication skills using assertive communication and active listening

Heather: I know a client is making meaningful progress in individual therapy when they are seeing their symptoms reduce and tracking that with validated measures like the PHQ-9 or the GAD-7.

Rhoda: I know a client is making meaningful progress in individual therapy when they express having more confidence in themselves. They express more positive interactions with themselves and others and are doing activities that they enjoy.

Heather: Clients can supplement their time in individual therapy with group therapy, reading therapist-recommended books or watching podcasts, and watching recommended films or videos, to name a few.

Rhoda: I encourage clients to practice the skills and utilize the tools we discuss in session. Clients can supplement their time in individual therapy with reading and researching ideas and tools on their own.

Heather: To prepare for your first individual therapy session, you can read the bio of the therapist you will be seeing to get an idea of who they are, prepare questions, set realistic goals, and most importantly keep an open mind and a willingness to explore new ideas.

Rhoda: To prepare for your first individual therapy session, you can come with an openness to share your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and what you wish to accomplish through therapy.