Single session therapy
It has happened that sometimes I have met new clients for a single session only. Earlier this year, a young adult woman requested a session to talk through the challenges and changes she had noticed in her relationship since moving in with her boyfriend. As when becoming new parents (no manual can prepare us for the life-changing responsibility of caring for a new baby), moving in with someone and sharing one’s life with another human being can call upon skills, compromises and ideas that are new and unfamiliar. We can feel understandably uncertain. A single session was all this woman needed to gain a fresh perspective, tapping into her wisdom and resourcefulness to gain the confidence and reassurance she needed in adapting happily to her new living arrangement with her boyfriend.
A number of adults have contacted me this year for a session to understand and manage anxious feelings in relation to online dating. Someone else wanted a session to think through the dynamics of their family relationships. Another person came for a single session to explore anxious feelings before interviews and gain some strategies.
While each client is welcome to decide whether and when they may wish to return for a further session, sometimes one session is enough. The Human Givens approach is designed to help people in as few sessions as possible, easily accommodating a single session approach. That said, some clients choose to me for a session once in a while, when life events prove challenging, perhaps with many months in between sessions.
As described in Professor Windy Dryden’s article on single-session therapy which appeared in The Psychologist (Nov 2019), ‘single-session therapy is not therapy that lasts for one session and that is it. Rather, it is a way of approaching therapy where therapist and client work together to see if they can help the latter get what they want from one session, but if not, more help is available. Paradoxically, it is knowing that more help is possible that enables the client to relax and get the most from the first and often only therapeutic encounter.’ (Read Prof Windy Dryden's Article on Single-Session Therapy in The Psychologist, November 2019)
It may be reassuring to know that it is possible to benefit from ‘single session therapy’. This may be especially helpful when you find that you have something on your mind but you don’t seem able to work it through on your own, yet you don’t feel that you need to sign up for therapy. Perhaps a single session may be viewed more comfortably as a coaching session, providing you with a fresh and practical perspective.
It’s refreshing to know that it’s ok to have a single session with someone who is trained to have these kinds of ‘coaching’ conversations, with the main objective of addressing that one thing on your mind in a focused way.
Of course, it’s ok if after that first single session, you may decide that there is more you want to explore and you might decide on another single session. I can offer 60- or 90-minute sessions depending on your needs, online or in person. You are welcome to contact me for a free initial telephone chat to find out more.