One on One Psychotherapy
Individual Therapy (Psychotherapy)
Ongoing one-on-one therapy is a common means of growth and healing for many people. Individual one-on-one therapy, often referred to as psychotherapy, involves meeting with a therapist individually in order to reduce internal suffering, which often causes problematic behavior.
One-on-one therapy can help to break down barriers that interfere with emotional and mental well-being. Avalon Malibu clients begin to value the journey to becoming more conscious about themselves, their inner world, and their relationships – where compassion, peace, joy, self-esteem, spiritual connections and love are imparted using the tools they’ve learned in one-on-one therapy.
What is Involved with One-On-One Therapy?
One-on-one or individual therapy is a well-studied and thoroughly developed method for treating mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse and more. However, it can also be used to promote personal growth or help people overcome specific life challenges. Because it can inspire change through a process of self-exploration and improved self-awareness, individual psychotherapy is a core component of most mental health and addiction treatment center objectives.
It might sound like a simple act to talk about your thoughts, feelings and beliefs with someone who can listen and offer guidance, but it has been found to be one of the most effective ways to help people work through their problems, identify distortions in their thinking and achieve their goals.
Benefits of One-on-One Therapy
Individual therapy provides a safe and supportive space for people to explore their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. It can improve your mental health and well-being by giving you the tools to better cope with anxiety, depression, stress and other mental health challenges. It can also promote a greater sense of self-awareness through the process of self-exploration, helping you to identify the behavioral patterns, triggers and underlying emotions that affect your daily life. With the guidance of a trained therapist, you can gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your experiences, leading to personal growth and a more fulfilling life.
Other benefits of one-on-one therapy include:
- A corrective emotional experience: Often, beliefs that develop in childhood no longer serve the adult.
- Safe and confidential space: In individual therapy, you have the opportunity to talk about things that are deeply personal or sensitive in a safe and confidential space. You can share your thoughts, feelings and experiences without fear of judgment or reprisal.
- Emotional support: Individual therapy can provide emotional support and help you process difficult emotions. This can be particularly beneficial if you’re dealing with grief, trauma or carrying secrets.
- Improved relationships: Therapy can help you develop better communication skills and learn how to navigate conflict in relationships. This can result in more fulfilling and satisfying relationships with friends, family and romantic partners.
- Improved mental health: Individual therapy can be effective for a range of mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression and trauma. It can help you develop coping strategies and regain hope.
- Personalized attention: Individual therapy offers personalized attention from a trained therapist who can tailor their approach to your unique needs and goals. It can be effective in the short term for resolving specific problems, or as an ongoing process to develop ways of coping with more complex and long-standing issues.
- Long-term benefits: The skills and insights gained in therapy can be beneficial long after therapy has ended, improving overall mental health and well-being.
What is Involved with One-on-One Therapy?
Individual therapy sessions at Avalon Malibu average 45 minutes to an hour. Our therapists strive to help you understand yourself and your problems in order to cope with the demands of everyday life. Goals are set, which may involve replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, facing specific fears or changing behavioral patterns. Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapies also strive for personal growth through insight into the conscious and subconscious mind. The techniques used by therapists (word association, for example) help to reveal your wishes and feelings, providing insight into your actions.
Individual therapy can include the use of various methods or approaches depending on your unique needs or goals, such as EMDR, inner child therapy and core belief therapy. For example, using the Gestalt technique, our therapists might show you a picture of something that could have multiple interpretations. Studying your visual perception allows the therapist to gain better insight into your inner workings.
Some of the other evidence-based forms of psychotherapy that we use at Avalon Malibu include cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy and breathwork therapy.
“Excellent staff. Impressive staff to patient ratio. Cutting edge program tailored for my specific needs. I left Avalon Malibu with many new skills and a deeper understanding of my disease. I will forever be grateful for the care I received there.”
– M.R.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a proven mental health treatment used for a number of mental, emotional and behavioral concerns. It looks at the ways that distorted thought patterns or beliefs influence behavior. The goal of CBT is to help people identify and change these harmful thoughts and develop healthier coping mechanisms, making mental health symptoms and difficult life situations easier to manage.
Dialectical behavior therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a form of CBT designed to help people dealing with impulsive behavior, intense emotions and unstable relationships. It enhances the ability to work through challenges by improving skills in four key areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. DBT balances the two seemingly opposing ideas of acceptance and change to reduce mental health symptoms.
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is a humanistic, holistic approach to psychotherapy that helps individuals understand what is happening in their lives by focusing on the present moment. The term “gestalt” refers to the idea that a person is a whole entity composed of various parts, and these parts are interconnected and cannot be fully understood in isolation from each other. It rejects the idea that a singular trait or diagnosis can define a person — instead, the whole self must be discovered, explored and confronted in order to heal.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy
Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is a type of therapy that helps increase a person’s motivation to change problematic behaviors, such as substance abuse. It is usually a short-term therapy that takes place over 4 to 6 sessions, focusing on helping individuals explore and resolve their ambivalence about making positive changes in their lives.
What Does One-on-One Therapy (Psychotherapy) Treat?
One-on-one therapy can treat specific mental health conditions ranging from anxiety and depression to substance abuse and ADHD. However, many clients do not have a specific condition or diagnosis; they simply seek help for dealing with relationship problems, stress, career ambitions and many more personal issues.
At Avalon Malibu, our trained, licensed and experienced psychotherapists serve as a listening ear and support you in achieving positive growth no matter what you’re dealing with. We provide specific strategies for coping with life’s challenges and confronting unwanted thoughts, behaviors or emotions so you can make a positive, lasting change.
Avalon’s beautiful seaside setting helps to increase positive feelings, while our qualified specialists help you through mental health issues in order to move toward a more productive, healthy life. Psychotherapy is a personal process of deep listening, learning, and helping to heal the protective or wounded inner core of the individual.
Getting the Most Out of One-on-One Psychotherapy
The time spent with our therapists is very valuable, so it is imperative that you are comfortable and ask any questions you may have about how one-on-one therapy works to get the most out of your treatment. Therapists expect to be questioned about their experience and background, as well as their own unique approach to counseling.
Some possible questions you can ask regarding your therapy include: the therapist’s training or education, associations the therapist belongs to, how many sessions will be needed, how often therapy sessions will occur, how much experience the therapist has with your specific problem, and whether your case will be discussed with anyone else.
Avalon Malibu’s aim is to make sure that you are completely comfortable with the therapist you are seeing so that you can enjoy the most effective, healing progress possible.
