INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY

Individual psychotherapy is offered to adults and adolescents in regular sessions with the therapist. What brings someone to therapy? It may be a symptom, a loss, a crisis or a difficult decision. At other times, the starting point is less clearly defined: a persistent unease, a recurring question or a sense of having reached a limit.

 

During the initial meetings, the circumstances that have led someone to seek therapy are discussed, along with what they expect from it and whether this particular setting is appropriate for what they bring. The initial request need not already be clear or definitive. As someone speaks, it may become clearer, shift or give rise to questions that were not apparent at the outset. What is initially presented as the problem may not exhaust what is at stake. If it becomes apparent that a different form of support or the involvement of another professional would be more appropriate, this is discussed openly.

 

In sessions, the person may speak about whatever concerns them: events from everyday life, relationships, memories, dreams, bodily experiences, decisions or dilemmas. The conversation need not follow a chronological order or remain confined to the initial reason for seeking therapy. There is no need to know, each time, where to begin. Something that initially appears incidental may acquire a particular weight, while something taken for granted may cease to seem self-evident.

 

The therapist’s listening is not passive. A question or a return to something already said may shift the terms in which an issue is posed. Therapeutic work is not organised around advice, instructions or ready-made answers.

 

Although sessions are individual, no one speaks in isolation from the relationships and circumstances of their life. Family, intimate relationships and friendships, work, sexuality, health, and the social or cultural context can all form part of what is discussed. The focus is not on evaluating people who are absent or assigning blame, but on the person’s own position within these relationships and on how they experience what happens.

 

In meetings with adolescents, the adolescent’s own position in relation to therapy is particularly important, even when the initial concern or initiative comes from parents or guardians. Therapy is not based solely on the request of the adults around them; the adolescent needs space to articulate what concerns them and what they seek from the meetings. Confidentiality and its limits, the involvement of parents or guardians, and the terms of communication with them are clarified from the outset in a way that protects the therapeutic relationship and takes account of the adolescent’s age and particular needs.

 

The frequency and framework of the meetings are agreed at the beginning of therapy and may be reviewed as the work proceeds. No fixed number of sessions is determined in advance; therapy may be short-term or long-term. Questions about continuing, pausing or ending therapy are discussed as part of the process.

 

Sessions are available in person in Larnaca and Nicosia, as well as online.