Individual Counseling

Child, Adolescent, & Adult

What is individual therapy?

Individual therapy is a psychotherapy implemented by a trained professional, usually a therapist, to help a client work through a problem. The ways that individual therapy is implemented varies widely depending upon the psychological issue experienced by the client, the personal beliefs and practices of the therapist, and the individual needs of the client.

(Child, Adolescent, & Adult)

Anxiety
Depression
Trauma
Grief
Autism
ADHD
Personality Disorders
Anger Management

The Holistic Approach

Somatic psychotherapy, a holistic therapeutic approach, incorporates a person’s mind, body, spirit, and emotions in the healing process. This approach may be able to quickly address deep emotional issues not revealed through traditional talk therapy, simply by paying attention to the communication of the body. Past trauma or other psychological concerns may potentially have a negative effect on a person’s autonomic nervous system, people experiencing emotional and psychological issues may also be affected by physical concerns such as sexual dysfunction, hormonal issues, digestive issues, or tension in specific parts of the body such as the head, neck, shoulders, or stomach.

Somatic psychotherapy can help individuals both become more aware of these bodily sensations and learn to use therapeutic techniques to release any tension the body is holding. Techniques often used in therapy include breathing exercise and sensation awareness, physical exercise such as yoga or other movement, and grounding exercises.

Birchwood Therapeutic Services offers multiple interventions to help a client release stored tension and deep rooted emotional pain:

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) relieves symptoms by an unusual (but scientific) routine of tapping with the fingertips on a short series of points on the body that correspond to acupuncture points on the energy meridians.

Trauma Sensitive Yoga, or TSY, is different from a traditional yoga practice in that it encourages awareness and positive regard for the body through gentle movement and simple breathing exercises.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for children and adolescents impacted by trauma, and their parents or caregivers. Research shows that TF-CBT successfully resolves a broad array of emotional and behavioral difficulties associated with single, multiple and complex trauma experiences.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that combines strategies to help people build skills in 4 key areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation. DBT is commonly used in both individual and group settings.

The Association for Play Therapy describes child play therapy as “a way of being with the child that honors their unique developmental level and looks for ways of helping in the “language” of the child – play. Licensed mental health professionals therapeutically use play to help their clients, most often children ages three to 12 years, to better express themselves and resolve their problems. Play therapy works best when a safe relationship is created between the therapist and client, one in which the latter may freely and naturally express both what pleases and bothers them.”