Now, in-person as well as e-counseling and online therapy are available at changehappens
Why do people choose individual psychotherapy?
Lots of people feel less comfortable in a group setting for a variety of reasons, and prefer to meet with a psychotherapist in a one-on-one setting.
Advantages of individual therapy
Seeing a psychotherapist on an individual basis avoids any potential privacy or confidentiality concerns, since there are just the two of you.
Individual psychotherapy offers other advantages.
You have the entire time to yourself, without interruption by anyone else.
You are the therapist’s sole focus, which can sometimes be awkward, but at other times, the benefits can be healing.
You can take whatever time you need to gather your thoughts and/or come to terms with your feelings, which can be a luxury in this fast-paced hectic world.
You can sit in silence without having someone else jump in to fill it with their own issues.
You can try things out in a safe space, without the additional fear of embarrassment in front of others
Some issues are extremely personal and hard enough to discuss with just the therapist, minus the presence of other eyes and ears:
- Childhood trauma related to mental, emotional or sexual abuse
- Adult trauma related to mental, emotional or sexual abuse
- Addiction to alcohol, food, the Internet, pornography, drugs, work, gambling, etc.
- Eating disorders, such as binge eating and bulimia
- Family secrets
- Difficult relationships
- Grief and bereavement
- Creative blocks
How therapy has changed
Individual psychotherapy has changed a lot over the years. 
In the days of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis, the client lay on a couch and the psychoanalyst sat behind, out of sight, and listened without much interruption. At the end of the session, perhaps the client got an interpretation or an analysis of what was said, and perhaps not.
Since the late 1960s and the human potential movement, the client-therapist relationship has become the single most important factor in someone’s healing. This has been borne out in many research-based studies.
Nowadays, the client and psychotherapist usually face one another directly – sometimes across a desk or table, and sometimes not.
My office
My office features several couches and chairs,
and the 
client is free to choose where he or she feels the most comfortable. Usually, I sit across from the client, so that we can have a conversation. The client is the expert, and I am there as a support and guide to greater self-awareness and healing.
Unfortunately, there’s still too much stigma and shame in our society for people seeking help with emotional and mental issues. How crazy is that?
Individual psychotherapy can be the first step to overcoming this shame.
Mental wellness and emotional health are worth looking after, because they affect the quality of our lives and our enjoyment.
If you would like to arrange a time to talk, call 416-654-6453 or fill out the contact form and we will get back to you.