Individual Counseling in Grand Rapids

What is individual counseling?

Adult therapy is important for an individual to have a safe space to explore their experiences, interactions and beliefs. It allows for a space where the client can explore what it feels like to say and feel without judgment.

Therapy is an experience with another person. Unlike books, podcasts, seminars, etc, therapy is a relational experience. Relationships have significant meaning because of what they bring up for us and how we relate to and experience one another. The therapeutic relationship is healing because of the nature and role of the therapist, an unbiased, neutral party who can speak to their experience of the client.

How do I know I need counseling?

What life circumstances might necessitate counseling?

  • Desire for deeper self-awareness

  • Difficulty sleeping

  • Change in eating habits

  • Change in fatigue

  • Change in motivation

  • Job change

  • Moving

  • Significant life transitions

  • Racing thoughts

  • Sadness

  • Thoughts of self harm

  • Suicidal thoughts

  • Death/loss

  • Relationship issues/healing

  • Somatic experience - sleep, appetite, pain

Types of individual counseling include:

Trauma therapy

  • This involves creating language to express the trauma, exploring and processing, identifying the feelings and how the body feels when talking about it and learning techniques to soothe the body sensations after awareness is brought to them. Trauma therapy creates a safe space to feel the weight of the trauma, which may include experiencing sadness in session, as well as creating consistency and safety within the therapy "container." It involves processing through complex emotions and using strength-based approaches to help soothe and heal. Family systems theory and techniques will be used to process childhood/family trauma.

Anxiety/depression therapy

  • Mindfulness activities are utilized often, creating practice to help you ground yourself so that you then can begin to soothe the anxiety or explore what part you have control over. Therapists use reflection to help elicit and deepen the experience of anxiety/depression in session. The use of mindfulness techniques helps to separate thoughts, emotions, and body experiences.

Grief counseling

  • Grief counseling is different for each client, but therapy can create a safe container for you to explore your emotions; to be angry, sad, confused, defeated, happy. It also creates a space for you to be fully yourself and to feel all your feelings without judgment or criticism. It involves reflecting and processing experiences and feelings.

Mental & Emotional Wellbeing

  • Counseling and psychotherapy are excellent as a wellness practice, not unlike yoga, meditation, and exercise. It is a great way to deepen self-awareness and cultivate more satisfying ways of being your best self in the world.

What can I expect from counseling?

What Can I Expect in First Counseling Session?

The therapist will go over confidentiality, informed consent, and the logistics of appointment length and policies. They will also discuss their approach to therapy, build rapport, and create a space for you to tell them about yourself, your story, where you grew up, any past counseling experiences, and your hopes and expectations for counseling.

Counseling Techniques may include:

  • Mindfulness Based

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

  • Depth Oriented

  • Relational Psychodynamic

  • Person-centered

  • Attachment Based

Time commitment Needed for Counseling

Adult therapy at Mindful Counseling GR is often a long-term process. Weekly appointments work best to establish the safety of the therapeutic relationship, which is critical for true change and transformation to occur. There is typically a catalyst for you to begin therapy, but you have had years of experiences and interactions that have shaped who you are and your beliefs. Therapy is a great place to begin to process those interactions and experiences and to develop an understanding of where beliefs about yourself and others came from and if they need to be adjusted or processed.

What makes Mindful Counseling GR different?

At Mindful Counseling GR, we highly value the wisdom of the client-therapist relationship. We are grounded in the belief that you cannot take people to places you haven’t been willing to go yourself. Therefore, we are committed to our own ongoing growth and development both professionally and personally holding to the belief that life is an ever-unfolding journey. Most of our therapists intentionally pursue their own therapy, supervision, and continuing education to deepen our own self-awareness.