What is individual therapy and how does it benefit you?

Your first session, step by step

#1 Initial introduction

Meet your therapist and talk about what brings you in

#2 History and background

Share key information — past experiences, symptoms, or diagnoses

#3 Goal setting

Define what you’d like to get out of therapy together

#4 Personalized treatment plan

Discuss which therapy style or techniques may be used

#5 Regular check-ins

Adjust goals and treatment as needed over time

Individual therapy is your space to explore, grow, and heal — at your pace, on your terms. Connect with a Headspace therapist today to get started.

Individual therapy is a therapeutic process where you work with a trained therapist in a confidential setting. It’s a safe space where you can heal from trauma, navigate personal challenges, manage emotional pain or mental health conditions, and work toward your goals for growth. Compared to group therapy or couples counseling, the format of individual therapy allows you to achieve deeper personalization and more flexibility.

While every experience is different, most therapy sessions follow a general structure tailored to each client’s needs while shaped by the therapist’s counseling style. In almost every individual session, you’ll do things like:

• Talk through recent difficult experiences or ongoing concerns
• Set goals or areas of focus
• Learn and practice coping skills
• Explore unhealthy or unhelpful thought patterns and emotional reactions

For most people, therapy sessions evolve over time. They adjust as you make progress, achieve goals, or experience changes in your needs or mental health.

Individual therapy can be beneficial in many situations. It can be a productive and healing process if you’re struggling with:

• Managing stress, anxiety, or depression
• Healing from trauma
• Navigating grief or loss
• Facing a life transition
• Dealing with relationship challenges
• Seeking personal growth or self-awareness

It’s important to note you don’t need to be in crisis to start therapy. Finding support can add value to your life at any point, regardless of where you’re coming from or where you hope to go.

The benefits of individual therapy go far beyond symptom relief, especially compared to group therapy or relationship counseling. Therapy can be a freeing, powerful tool that helps you grow as an individual, improve relationships, build confidence, and heal from your past.

The main benefits of individual therapy include:

• It’s a safe, judgment-free environment where you can be open about your experiences, fears, and challenges
• You’ll get tailored support and treatment plans that address your exact needs
• You can build stronger emotional resilience that protects you in the future
• Your self-esteem and communication skills improve, enhancing relationships and your sense of self-worth
• You can make long-term, lasting improvements in your mental health and daily functioning

Your experience in therapy is unique and will vary from anyone else’s. However, there are common types of therapy that are used in one-on-one sessions—understanding them can help you make faster progress and alleviate stress leading up to your first session.

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): Helps you identify and change negative thought and behavior patterns. Research shows that CBT significantly improves functioning and quality of life for many individuals, with strong evidence supporting its effectiveness across a wide range of mental health conditions.

CBT is a good choice if you’re struggling with negative thoughts or unhealthy behaviors, or if you need coping strategies to deal with everyday challenges. It’s been found beneficial for people with:

• Depression
• Anxiety disorders
• Stress
• Substance use disorder
• Disordered eating
• Other mental health conditions
  
  
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): ACT combines behavioral strategies with mindfulness while encouraging value-driven action.

ACT can be great when you’re dealing with depression or anxiety. It’s helpful if you have a hard time accepting your feelings without letting them change your behavior or actions. Meta-analyses and systematic reviews of ACT show that it’s effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. ACT is also effective for:

• Stress
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  
  
• Psychodynamic therapy: This type of therapy can be a good option if you want to explore deeper emotional roots. Studies show it’s particularly effective for depression, some types of anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and somatic disorders.

If you’re trying to understand the causes of your emotional struggles, psychodynamic therapy can be a good option. It focuses on self-reflection and exploring past patterns that trigger you today. According to research, psychodynamic therapy offers lasting benefits even after treatment ends.

• Solution-focused therapy: Solution-focused therapy is exactly what it sounds like—a short-term, goal-oriented process that helps you overcome current life challenges.

Solution-focused therapy is an excellent therapeutic approach when addressing a specific problem or a major life transition. It can be ideal if you have limited time or are looking for coping strategies you can immediately put into place. During sessions, you’ll learn solutions based on your strengths and current resources instead of diving into your past. Though it’s less studied than CBT or psychodynamic therapy, research supports that it’s effective for a range of issues, such as stress management, dealing with life changes, and developing problem-solving skills. Solution-focused therapy can be helpful if you’re:

• Coping with loss
• Navigating a career change or move
• Hoping to improve your relationships

Finding the right therapist is crucial to getting a positive outcome. To start, it can help to think about what you want to get out of therapy and review tips on how to find a therapist who aligns with your needs. Use the following tips to narrow down your search:

• Identify your goals: Do you need help with a specific issue or concern? Or are you interested in personal growth?
• Think about logistics: Everything from availability to cost to your preference for online vs. in-person care can impact who you seek care from.
• Reach out: Most therapists offer an initial consultation to ensure a good fit. Don’t hesitate to ask questions during your first meeting. It’s important that you feel comfortable with your therapist.
  

• Specialties or niches
• Credentials and training
• Therapeutic approach
• Personality
• Communication style
• Cultural sensitivity
• Availability
• Cost

Online mental health therapy platforms like Headspace make starting individual therapy with a licensed clinician easy. We help you find a therapist who understands your unique needs, so you can get treatment that makes a real difference.

Headspace offers individual therapy from licensed mental health professionals via secure and flexible video sessions. Our providers are trained in a variety of evidence-based approaches to care, so you can find the support you need to reach your goals. Explore our care options today and take that first step toward feeling better, at your own pace and in your own space, with online therapy from Headspace.


_Sources:

_{Beygi, Z., Jangali, R. T., Derakhshan, N., Alidadi, M., Javanbakhsh, F., & Mahboobizadeh, M. (2023). An overview of reviews on the effects of Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) on depression and anxiety. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijps.v18i2.12373. Accessed May 27, 2025.}

_{Cuijpers, P., Miguel, C., Harrer, M., Plessen, C. Y., Ciharova, M., Ebert, D., & Karyotaki, E. (2023). Cognitive behavior therapy vs. control conditions, other psychotherapies, pharmacotherapies and combined treatment for depression: a comprehensive meta‐analysis including 409 trials with 52,702 patients. World Psychiatry, 22(1), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.21069. Accessed May 27, 2025.}

_{Fonagy, P. (2015). The effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapies: An update. World Psychiatry, 14(2), 137–150. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20235. Accessed May 27, 2025.}

_{Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012). The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral therapy: A review of Meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(5), 427–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1. Accessed May 27, 2025.}

_{Shedler, J. (2010). The efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy. In American Psychologist (Vol. 65, Issue 2, pp. 98–109) [Journal-article]. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018378. Accessed May 27, 2025.}