Individual Therapy
For individual adults and teens wanting to work though personal issues
teletherapy provided in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Utah, and Arizona
Individual Therapy Specialties
Faith Transitions
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It’s a developmentally appropriate experience to question one’s faith, but for some people, this can dramatically affect their relationships with family members or their own identity, particularly if they ultimately choose to leave their religion. I have special experience working with people in various states of membership/affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have cultural competence in understanding all things Mormon and I can help you navigate your spiritual journey with no agenda for where you end up, while helping you preserve the relationships you care about most.
LGBTQ+ identity issues
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Questioning or expressing your authentic gender or sexual identity can be a complicated process, particularly if you have a conservative religious background. Having a safe, non-judgmental space to explore identity can be critical to gaining confidence and can help when making decisions about how and when to share your identity with others.
Sports psychology
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We all know that you can increase your performance on the field by improving your mental game, which I can help you with. Not only that, but talking about and addressing your stressors off the field can help you focus on the sport that you love. Pressure from coaches or parents regarding your body size or injuries, or the pressure you put on yourself to be the best can get in the way of achieving your goals.
Perfectionism
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Feeling like you have to be perfect all the time and it’s counterpoint, avoiding things due to fear of failure, can seriously increase stress and limit your opportunities in life. Learning to change your thinking can make life more enjoyable.
Body positivity
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You don’t have to have a full-blown eating disorder or extreme body dysmorphia (obsessive focus on perceived flaws) to experience body dissatisfaction or an unhealthy relationship with food. Disordered eating and negative mental health symptoms like depression and suicidality go hand in hand and it’s important to seek professional treatment early. Many people can benefit from exploring ways to be more body positive.
Relationship issues
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Whether you’re struggling to get along with your spouse or your kids, sometimes the other person is not willing or interested in participating in therapy. If you’re not sure if you want to stay in your current relationship, individual therapy is a safe place to explore your options. In any relationship, both people contribute to perpetuating a negative cycle. The good news is, if one person begins to act differently, the other person may respond differently, and change becomes possible in this way.
Grief and loss
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Death and breakups are obvious causes of grief and loss, and therapy can definitely help you process what is happening. Less obvious forms of loss like infertility, job loss, relocation, or a mid-life crisis feeling of loss regarding identity, health, or opportunity can all be difficult to navigate.
What leads to change in therapy?
There are four “common factors” that researchers describe as contributing to effective change in therapy. First are “extratherapeutic factors”, or the elements of yourself that you bring to therapy. You and your personal variables (your personality, support system, job, faith, etc.) contribute significantly to whether or not you will see improvement.
The second factor is the therapy relationship, or strength of the therapeutic alliance. Essentially, how well we get along and how comfortable you feel with me is another really important factor.
Hope and expectancy account for the third major portion. That is, if you are motivated to change and believe that therapy will help you, it will be more likely to!
Finally, the techniques and therapeutic models I use account for the last portion of change. Whether or not I used research-based techniques (hint–I do) or am freewheeling it makes a difference.
What should you do with this information? Make sure that you’re ready and motivated to engage in the process, and make sure you have a good feeling about working with me. The vibe you get when you read through my website should give you a clue. You can visit kellyfurr.com to learn more about me and see if you think we might be a good fit.
What is individual therapy like?
Individual therapy varies depending on your needs. Some people are looking for short-term treatment to work through something that is happening during a difficult season in their life like a faith transition, a divorce, or a challenging issue at work.
Other people are looking for a longer-term sounding board such as having someone to talk to throughout turbulent high school years, or while struggling to manage difficult family relationships, or while on a quest to develop a healthier relationship with food.
As a family therpist, I am always looking at issues systemically, even in individual therapy. That means that I am curious how your relationships with family members, friends, your larger system (work, religion, community) and your culture affect your problems and how they can provide resources.
I will incorporate research-based principles of therapeutic methods that seem most salient to your individual situation. Some of my go-to approaches include principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Intuitive Eating, Health at Every Size, The Gottman method, Solution-Focused therapy, and Narrative therapy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often will I come to individual therapy?
That depends on the urgency you feel and your finances. Clients most commonly come every other week. Some people whose lives feel more turbulent come weekly, at the beginning. Others who have been with me for a while but still feel that an ongoing therapeutic relationship is helpful come once a month or less.
I don’t have a babysitter. Can my kid be in the background?
If you can be by yourself, that’s preferable, as part of the point of individual therapy is to allow you time to focus on yourself. That being said, I love babies and understand that sometimes they need to be close to their caregivers even if it’s inconvenient. Kids who are old enough to understand what we are talking about are old enough to have headphones and screen time for an hour. But occasional check-ins won’t bother me. It’s the 2020s–we’ve all learned to be flexible and adapt by now.
Can I bring my partner or parent to individual therapy?
Yes. What makes it individual is that the primary focus is on you and the issues and goals that you present. Sometimes having a supportive parent or partner is really helpful all the time or just for a session or two.
Will you give me homework to work on between sessions?
That’s entirely up to you. Some people are task and efficiency-oriented and want to get as much done, as quickly as possible. For others, just coming to therapy is difficult enough and they don’t want to have to do much in between. I like to read and I may recommend a book to you, but if you’re not a reader and you feel like that’s what you’re paying me the big bucks for–to read and summarize in session, that works too. I’ll follow your lead.