In life, nothing goes as planned – and that can send us into a tailspin. You might be struggling to overcome anxiety, stress, depression, trauma and behaviours that no longer serve you and affect your outlook on life.Â
During these times, having a grounded and welcoming environment can be helpful for you to talk and process your emotions and thoughts while developing positive skills and responses.Â
At Elevate Psychology, I offer individual counselling in Calgary. These one-on-one sessions allow us to explore your feelings and behaviours, help you better understand yourself and set personal goals to improve your overall mental health.Â
Throughout my years as a Calgary psychologist, I’ve seen, helped and witnessed life-changing transformations. In all that time, one thing is clear: everyone has different pasts, comes from unique cultures and reacts differently to people, places and circumstances. It’s why my approach is based on the unique individual I’m working with.Â
We’ll establish a comfortable rapport so I can get to know you, your history and the challenges you’re facing. This will form the basis of our therapeutic framework, which delves into the origins of your issues and uses a combination of emotional processing, education, and behavioural modalities to encourage positive changes in your life.Â
Undergoing counselling services in Calgary can be exhausting, emotionally overwhelming and even physically challenging – which is why plenty of people are put off by it.Â
You don’t have to worry about that at Elevate Psychology.Â
I’ve created a warm, down-to-earth environment that accepts all adults, partners, parents and teens from various cultures, heritages and circumstances. By keeping things light and comfortable while remaining professional, I encourage my patients to open up, be themselves and guide them to the path of becoming the person they want to be. Â
Together, we’ll work to help you rise above and conquer life’s challenges.
While there are many different styles of therapy (also called interventions or modalities), most therapists are trained in several common ones, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-Based Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy, to name a few. I believe the best way to approach this is to clearly state your goals and try different interventions!
Most of the time, you won’t know what style or intervention is being used during the session, as most therapists use a combination of different techniques and cater them to the client present in front of them.
In my opinion, it is far more important to reach the goals set out for therapy than to focus on completing protocols set out by different modalities.
Family and couples sessions are composed of multiple individuals. This may be a couple, a family consisting of parents and children, a group of siblings, one parent with a child, friends, or members of the same household.
Individual sessions are meant for one individual only. If you believe you could benefit from spending some time assessing and managing your own thoughts, emotions or behaviours, then individual therapy is for you.
If you would like to focus specifically on the dynamics of a relationship, then couples or family therapy might be a better fit. The focus of these sessions is exclusively on enhancing the relationship, whereas the focus of individual sessions is on the individual and whichever concerns they would like to address.
Taking the step to initiate therapy requires a lot of courage. My speciality as an adult and teen psychologist is to try my best to ensure your comfort during our sessions. This includes taking breaks as needed, proceeding slowly when needed, and giving you plenty of time to collect your thoughts before moving on.
It is the therapist’s job to guide the session and stay focused on the goals at hand. I recommend ensuring you arrive a few minutes early to avoid the stress of traffic and parking (or log on earlier, if virtual), dressing in comfortable clothing, and giving yourself some cushion time after the session if you have other appointments. Water, tea, and coffee are always available at the office as refreshments.