Individual Therapy / Teletherapy: Adults

Counseling (or Therapy) as a Service

Counseling or psychotherapy (aka, therapy) is a service like no other. You reach out to a counselor, probably a stranger or somebody who you have never met before, and are supposed to tell this person your personal problems and deepest, darkest secrets? Really?

In pondering this issue, you may also think, “I get my counseling from my friends and family and that’s all I need.” This, however, might not be the case for everybody. I mean, don’t get me wrong: Friends and family can be great.

However, often friends and family are unable to remain neutral, may give you biased advice according to their own limited experience, attempt to unconsciously advance their own agenda like covertly wanting to control you (or do as they say), etc. Family and friends may even judge or criticize you harshly.

What Does a Therapist Actually Do, and How Can They Help Me?

Some people believe that psychotherapy is a process shrouded in mystery, but it does not have to be this way. Perhaps you live with the popular, yet outdated, image of a psychotherapist being a bushy-bearded person with a couch and a notebook. Despite undergoing considerable education and training, counselors are regular people who typically choose their profession because they really care about other people and want to help.

In individual therapy, you work with a therapist, someone who can act as a neutral (third) party that can listen and try to understand you without judgment. A therapist can support you socially and emotionally. He or she can help you learn about yourself by pointing out and giving honest feedback about patterns of behavior, thinking, and emotion that are causing you some trouble or difficulty.

A therapist may teach specific techniques and strategies to deal with your problems (which may include relationships with other people) and symptoms that are bothersome to you. Therapists provide a unique and safe place to learn and practice social and other skills that can significantly improve your well-being and quality of life.

As you may already notice, therapy can be a lot of things: It is up to you and the therapist to determine what therapy will be like.

Let’s Be Real

Starting therapy can be frightening. This is a relatively common reaction. By asking yourself the following three questions, you can get a feel as to whether you are ready to take on this intimidating yet crucial step forward. Score the answer to each questions on a scale from zero to ten:

1. How much of a negative effect has my problem had in my life? (10 = most negative effect)
2. How important is it to me to feel better? (10 = extremely important), and
3. How willing am I to make getting better a priority currently in my life? (10 = highest priority)

If you scored five (5) or more on two or three scales, you are ready to change. It means that you have decided that it is time to take charge and change, and that you are prepared to dedicate some time regularly to get better.

Once you have made that important decision to start therapy, allow me to be your therapist.

Teletherapy: A Modern Way of Doing Therapy

Therapists have jumped onto the bandwagon of technology to create a new, modern approach to doing therapy: It is called teletherapy or distance counseling. It typically involves engaging in therapy sessions through video sessions, direct messaging, or a mixture of both, that operate on secured technology platforms. This is a unique service that may replace “office visits” or complement them.

For example, if your home is too far from the therapist’s office you may be able to hold teletherapy sessions. Or if you can’t get to therapist’s office because your car is malfunctioning or the weather doesn’t call for driving, you may opt to hold a teletherapy session instead. It gives you more options to continue therapy sessions without interruption.

Typically, the communication during teletherapy sessions happens in real time. A lot of people have reported that they feel more comfortable and experience a greater ability to speak more openly and honestly through teletherapy sessions.

Why Choose Teletherapy Over Traditional (“In-Office”) Therapy?

• You’re busy
• You prefer the comfort of your home or office
• Atlanta traffic gets on your nerves (tell me about it)

Just because…life happens.

As you may see, CONVENIENCE is the most obvious advantage of choosing teletherapy over traditional “in-office” therapy.