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Individual Counselling Services

Individual Counselling Services in Calgary, AB

During individual counselling sessions in Calgary (or just “counselling”), clients are encouraged to explore feelings, beliefs, and behaviors in relation to their personal lives and experiences. They work together with their therapist  to explore challenging or influential memories, identify aspects of their lives that they would like to change, better understand themselves and others, set personal goals, and work toward desired change.

Individual Counselling in Calgary is an increasingly popular choice among those seeking help with:

 

Multiple studies have shown the value of working with a professional counsellor and the advantages of counselling as it can help people make positive changes in their life.

Counselling involves an ongoing relationship between a client and their therapist with the ultimate goal of discovering the reasons why someone is having difficulties with thoughts, feelings or behaviors while gaining an understanding about what changes may be helpful.

One-on-one counselling sessions or online counselling can provide advantages that group counselling does not. When you have a problem that is unique to you or separates you from others, individual counselling gives you the opportunity to explore your issues in depth. Each client has unique needs that can be identified and addressed through this process.

This method of working through issues and problems leads to greater self-awareness and a broader range of personal development opportunities. This type of therapy provides deeper understanding, which makes it more likely for people to achieve lasting change related to their concerns and life goals.

Our individual counselling services in Calgary help people build the skills needed for change. It offers an opportunity to clarify thoughts and emotions, explore options and make sense out of life experiences.

Individual Counselling Calgary online session

Setting Goals and the Benefits of Individual Counselling

Individual counselling is a type of psychotherapy (talk-therapy) that provides a private, one-on-one setting for both the counsellor and the client. This setting allows for the exploration of problems where an individual is comfortable and under little time constraints. It also helps in increasing an individual’s self-awareness, encouraging self-exploration, identifying boundaries, enhancing communication skills and improving the use of healthy coping skills.

The benefits will lead to a shift in behavior for the individual, which often decrease symptoms of mental health issues. Some of the benefits that arise during counselling sessions are listed in greater depth below:

Better Self- Awareness

The human experience is complex and mysterious. It may be easy for some to describe what they did on the weekend or exactly what they need to do at work, but it becomes complicated when we ask a person to describe how they feel at any given moment. If I am hungry, how does that feel? If I am happy, how does that feel? If I am anxious, how does that feel?

In therapy, counselling in Calgary, and life coaching, mindfulness can be used as a tool to help us be more aware of our surroundings. It can help us take the time to breathe and become present to the current moment.

Mindfulness is a form of awareness that is cultivated through bodily awareness, but also thought awareness, and emotion awareness. Many times, we get so caught up in our thoughts that we are unaware of what is going on around us, and even in our own body. We ingest various types of media—videos, social networking, news articles– and tend to live vicariously through others’ experiences.

This can often lead to feeling unfocused, scattered, and disconnected due to the fact that we are not living in the present moment, but instead inhabiting a future or past fantasy. It is essential to be in touch with what is going on within ourselves, without always getting caught up in our thoughts and emotions. A better sense of self-awareness is one of the advantages produced by individual counselling

Counselling in Calgary, an Opportunity for Self-Exploration

Typing “counselling near me” into the search bar can be the first step in embarking on a journey of self-exploration. This process allows counselling clients to address who they are as individuals including their beliefs, values and personal history.

Have you ever asked yourself, “how do I know my life is purposeful?” Have you asked yourself, “what do I truly believe or value?” If so, what was the outcome of this self-examination and exploration? In counselling, individuals reflect upon past experiences and current circumstances in their lives. These introspections are a method of evaluating one’s patterns of thought and action directed toward understanding one’s self.

Learn to Identify Boundaries

The boundaries that are most often addressed in counselling are personal. In other words, they exist within the individual and delineate self from others. A lack of boundaries within oneself can lead to a variety of relational problems. What’s more, an inability to establish appropriate boundaries with others may add to the difficulties already faced.

It takes a lot of work to learn boundaries and start using them correctly, but if you get it right then you’ll find that having them is much more beneficial than you ever expected.

Develop Healthy Coping Skills Through Counselling in Calgary

Coping skills are learned behaviors that an individual can use to effectively regulate and handle their emotions. These new learned skills both distract the client from the stressor (for example, a panic attack or a depressing situation) and/or boost them up mentally to be better prepared for the next time an emotional trigger comes into play. There is no quick fix to developing these skills, but with the help of a trauma-informed counsellor, there is hope that strides can be made towards healthy functioning in a world where stress and anxiety are present on a daily basis.

Develop and/or Improve Communication Skills

Communication is key to success in any relationship but sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to. If you are struggling with relationships, have a hard time understanding someone (perhaps a spouse or child), or you find yourself frequently engaging in arguments, counselling in Calgary may be an effective solution. Solutions for problems related to communication begin with changes in how you listen and speak with others, so these are important skills to develop.

Making a Change With Effective Individual Counselling by Certified Therapists and Psychologists

Life is full of obstacles for all of us. We encounter difficulties and problems that cause distress in our lives. Sometimes we can make decisions on our own but other times it helps to have someone who can help you along the way. Counselling is a good choice if you are having a problem or difficulties that are causing stress in your life. One-on-one counselling gives you the opportunity to work on your problem in a supportive environment with a person who listens and asks good questions. 

Above all else, counselling helps people emerge from suffering to live fuller and more rewarding lives. If you are grappling with:

  • relationships;
  • substance abuse;
  • work-life balance;
  • parenting issues; or
  • any challenges that don’t allow you to reach your goals.

 

That’s what a counsellor is for. Improvement can take the form of self- mastery, which takes time and dedication, and it requires humility on behalf of the person seeking counselling.

If you’ve already made the first step by asking where to find “counselling near me?”, you now need only to reach out for help.

FAQS

Individual counselling (or psychotherapy) is a collaborative partnership between you and a mental health professional in which you speak openly about your life experiences and concerns, and work together to identify solutions and achieve your personal goals.

Individual counselling in Calgary is a popular approach to therapy because it fosters a closer one-on-one relationship between the therapist and client. The counsellor is able to provide feedback and get to know a client on a more personal level than in a group setting. Seeing a counsellor allows you to get a better understanding of how your thoughts and feelings affect your behaviors, lifestyle choices and relationships with others.

The differences between individual and group counseling sessions are several. Counselling in an individual format tends to be longer, more in-depth, require more commitment from both the professional and the client, and can have a more private feel. Working with others in a group format lends itself to a sense of community, fostering feelings of oneness with the group members. Both formats have their place in mental health treatment.

Book Your Appointment Online

We are currently accepting new clients however being a good fit is everything in a therapeutic alliance. When you’re ready, please contact us for a free 30-minute phone consultation to see if we match your needs and goals.

We at Virtuous Circle Counselling acknowledge Moh’kinstsis, the lands where the Bow and Elbow rivers meet, in what we currently call Calgary. We acknowledge that we are visitors on Moh’kinsstis and acknowledge the Blackfoot are those who named this area as Moh’kinsstis. In the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation, we recognize the ancestral territories, cultures, and oral practices of the Blackfoot people, the Îyarhe Nakoda Nations, the Dene people of the Tsuut’ina Nation, and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3.