Last Updated:

August 5th, 2024

Individual Therapy

Hollywood has conjured an evocative image of individual therapy. You recline on a soft, plush couch made of velvet. You lie amongst soft cushions, facing away from your therapist. You may be facing the ceiling with your hands tucked against your stomach. Or, you may be gazing at a painting of a soft pastoral landscape or out of a perfectly placed window. Your therapist sits somewhere out of sight, bespectacled and well-clad, writing in a small, neat notebook. Whilst this image is not so outrageous in the history of psychotherapy, it is not as relevant to the practice of individual therapy in the twenty-first century as we may believe. Attending therapy is daunting, but it does look very different to the therapy of Freud’s day. Dispelling the myths around talking therapy can be a powerful way of empowering individuals to access it. Individual therapy for addiction can be one of the most invaluable ways to work towards recovery. Individual counselling is a turning point in the lives of many – but how does it work, and why is it effective?

What is individual therapy?

Individual therapy (sometimes also referred to as one-to-one or 1-1 therapy) is a treatment that takes place between one therapist and one patient. Individual therapy can be accessed for many reasons. Between 2020 and 2021, there were 1.24 million referrals to IAPT, a specific form of talking therapy available through the NHS in England. This is a 21.5% increase from the previous year, when 1.17 million referrals were received. [2] This indicates that the need for 1-1 therapy is increasing across England and the UK on a broader scale. One theory indicates that the psychological impacts of the coronavirus may be a contributing factor to this rise.

Individual therapy is usually accessed over a course of sessions. The number of sessions you have may vary depending on your situation, symptoms and service provider. Some services (such as the NHS-provided IAPT) tend to offer between 6 and 8 sessions per client. Some people find that a short course of therapy is beneficial for them. Others may feel that they need to attend therapy for a longer period – accessing it across months or even years before they feel that they are ready to be discharged. It is also common for some people to leave and return to therapy over the course of their lives. This may happen when there are instances of treatment-resistant conditions, relapses or a history of traumatic experiences.

The goals of individual therapy are to reduce distress and manage symptoms that may be contributing to poor mental health. Many people attend therapy in order to ‘feel more in control.’ Some may attend to tackle specific difficulties – such as a tendency towards drug use – whilst others may explore more general issues, such as anxiety.

What to expect in individual therapy

Individual therapy is ‘individual’ in more ways than one. Firstly, it is individual because you will be working with a professional therapist 1-1. Secondly, it is ‘individual’ as what therapy looks like for you will vastly depend on your circumstances. If you return to therapy later in life, you may find that therapy takes a very different shape than the first time around. This is because different therapists have different styles, and they will apply these in a manner most appropriate for your treatment context.

Some therapists will work in very focused ways. This may mean that they spend the first several sessions identifying a key symptom, tendency, or thought pattern. They may then use subsequent sessions to help you work through this. Others may identify a broad area to consider but will take a ‘looser’  approach in sessions, allowing you to lead depending on how you have been feeling and what you have been experiencing lately. The end point of therapy is sometimes hard to determine. However, it is thought to reach a natural end ‘when the patient has accomplished the goals mutually agreed upon with the therapist.’

Is individual therapy for me?

Some professionals argue that all people would benefit from engaging with therapy at some point in their lives. However, there are specific instances that might increase a person’s likelihood of engaging with therapy. This could be related to a specific mental health condition, such as:

  • Anxiety
  • Borderline personality disorder
  • Depression
  • OCD
  • Schizophrenia

It could also be related to a specific experience, such as:

  • A traumatic event
  • A bereavement
  • Relationship issues
  • Being a carer
  • Chronic health issues
  • Low self-esteem
  • Codependency
  • Chronic stress
  • Phobias
  • Anger management
  • An addiction
  • Work or education-related stress

Some people may have several reasons to be engaged in therapy. But you do not have to be diagnosed with a mental health condition or live through a major life event to attend therapy. You may feel you need therapy if you are experiencing:

  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Burnout
  • Feeling tearful or low
  • Feeling hopeless
  • Feeling trapped
  • Experiencing suicidal thoughts

The Benefits of Individual Therapy

Counselling can be life-changing for some patients. This can happen all at once, or in a number of small increments that build together to make powerful change. Therapy can help us to gain perspective. This can be very useful in assisting us to realign difficult thoughts, feelings or behaviours and learning to come to terms with ourselves, our pasts and our future goals.

Tangible positive outcomes of individual therapy include:

  • Feeling more positive
  • Reduced panic attacks
  • Improved sleep
  • Greater attention to our feelings
  • Feeling more attuned to our values
  • Adopting new coping skills
  • Improving confidence
  • Addressing trauma
  • Hope for the future
  • Acceptance
  • Improved communication skills
  • Increased emotional intelligence
  • Reduced risk in engaging with harmful behaviours

One-to-One therapy in addiction treatment

Therapy in addiction treatment can take several different approaches. For some people, focusing on what may have contributed to the development of an addiction can be useful. A high number of people dealing with substance use disorders have experienced one or more of the following things:

  • A mental health condition
  • Trauma
  • Domestic violence
  • Childhood abuse or neglect
  • Financial insecurity
  • Bereavement or loss
  • Growing up with addiction in the household

The relationship between addiction and distress can also work the other way; a key warning sign is that addiction is worsening mental health. Addictions can come hand in hand with overwhelming feelings of guilt, shame, embarrassment, anger and sadness. They can also lead to a range of complex experiences, such as:

  • Drug-induced psychosis
  • Cognitive difficulties
  • Memory issues
  • Depression
  • Paranoia
  • Suicidal thoughts

Individual therapy at UKAT London Clinic

At UKAT London clinic, we offer 1-1 therapy as a standard component of our addiction treatment programmes. It is possible that 1-1 support may be accessed in a range of different forms. You may have individual CBT or DBT, for example, or 1-1 alcohol counselling. Individual therapy is often supplemented with group therapy to integrate peer support into your treatment. However, 1-1 therapy remains a cornerstone of rehab care throughout our treatment plans.

Seek support

Call us today for a free consultation; we will assess your current difficulties and needs to determine the most appropriate treatment for you. Addiction is a heavy burden to bear, but we are here to help lighten this weight and support you on your journey towards an addiction-free future.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the aim of individual therapy?
The reasons for attending therapy will differ wildly. However, across most people, the aim remains the same – we attend therapy to understand. Usually, we are hoping to better comprehend our thoughts and feelings. But in other situations, we may be aiming to understand the effect of a past experience or unpick our reliance on a specific behaviour. Knowledge is power. Understanding ourselves can give us a tangible head start in beginning to make noticeable change.
What are the stages of one-to-one therapy?
1-1 therapy usually follows a basic ‘structure.’ This may look something like this:

  1. Referral to therapy
  2. An initial assessment with your clinician
  3. Identification of key concerns and goal setting
  4. Regular sessions
  5. Discharge from therapy
Is individual therapy better than group therapy?
Individual and group therapy both have their places in a clinical setting. Which is ‘better’ will depend on your needs. However, group therapy is often seen as supplementing individual therapy, rather than the other way around. This is because direct, personal contact with a therapist is especially important in tackling our own idiosyncratic concerns. For some people, group therapy on its own may not allow the time to explore ‘deeply’ enough for sufficient long-term healing to occur.

(Click here to see works cited)

  • https://www.bacp.co.uk/news/news-from-bacp/2023/10-october-therapy-myths-debunked-the-truth-behind-the-uk-s-8-most-common-therapy-misconceptions/
  • https://digital.nhs.uk/news/2022/latest-nhs-digital-figures-show-21.5-rise-in-number-of-people-accessing-talking-therapies-statistical-press-release#:~:text=In%202021%2D22%2C%201.24%20million,accessed%20therapies%20through%20IAPT%20services.
  • https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/length-treatment
  • https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/length-treatment
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4008086/
  • https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/a-z-topics/drugs-and-mental-health