Our counselors provide therapy in Jackson, MS

My go-to approach for helping people in individual therapy is cognitive behavioral therapy. I find the best benefit in cognitive behavioral therapy because it helps the client challenge unhelpful or negative thought patterns and replace them with more productive and accurate thought patterns.

I teach the following tools in individual therapy:

• Self-awareness: The client learns to observe themselves without judgment. They learn to witness their own thoughts and behaviors with less reactivity and more compassion. They learn how to tap into what motivates them, what their hearts truly desire, and how they fit into their family, their friendships, and their community.
• Emotional self-regulation: Learning to manage difficult emotions, like stress and frustration, productively and thoughtfully rather than allowing them to have free rein over one's mind and actions. This also involves learning to channel positive emotions, like excitement and love, in healthy ways. Emotional regulation also leads to increased skill in areas such as problem-solving, self-monitoring of goals, delayed gratification, decision-making with compassion, and seeking help when necessary.
• Relationship and communication skills: Learning how to take responsibility for their role within relationships and being able to open up about what they're feeling and what they need.
• Setting healthy boundaries: Learning to define boundaries within relationships, clearly communicate those boundaries as necessary, and set consequences when boundaries are crossed.
• Forgiveness: Shifting from thoughts of revenge or bitterness to thoughts of understanding and empathy.

I know a client is making meaningful progress in individual therapy when the client can take the tools from their therapy sessions and transfer them to their own life.

Clients can supplement their time in individual therapy with movement, whether it is walking or doing an activity that they enjoy, for at least 10 to 15 minutes each day. Practicing mindfulness, gratitude journaling, and making meaningful connections are other good options. Any opportunity to connect with others, whether it be friends, coworkers, or family members, can release oxytocin, a feel-good hormone, and help deter feelings of sadness or loneliness.

To prepare for your first individual therapy session, you can reach out to your general practitioner for help in deciding what kind of therapist may be best for you. You may need to decide whether being there in person or online is best. Make sure your available time fits best with your needs, and prepare by being open to discussing your problems in order to secure the best therapist for your needs.