Individual counselling
Individual counselling is where you and I sit down together in a room and try to understand and manage your pornography problems.
Image credit © Kasia Bialasiewicz - Bigstockphoto.com
Who individual counselling helps
Individual counselling works well for men who are trying to understand their problem and either don’t have a partner, the partner doesn’t know, or the partner isn’t willing to come to counselling with them.
Why it works
One of the reasons this process works is that it allows men to talk about it in a neutral environment. They might have been using porn for a very long time but often have never actually spoken about. All they have done is think about the problem; it’s gone around and around in their heads but it hasn’t gone anywhere. One of the things about merely thinking about a problem is that you often don’t engage the critical thinking part of your brain. In contrast, when you talk about a problem, you have to structure it in a different way. Further, you also get to see the reactions of another person, and talk through an issue. There is something very powerful in this process of talking through an issue that goes way beyond trying to nut it out yourself.
What it’s for
The purpose of this process is to help you find ways of overcoming your pornography addiction. In individual counselling, we can devote our time to your unique situation and history, and come up with ways that you feel will help you with the problem. You can then try them, and report back about how they’ve gone.
What to expect
When you start this process, you can expect to feel as if you’ve had a weight lifted. The burden of carrying the secrecy about your pornography use is one of the things that actually keeps it locked in place. You could also expect to feel more inspired, and more optimistic about making progress. As the sessions unfold, and you try different methods and skills regarding managing your pornography addiction, you can expect that you will have some successes.
These successes might happen quite easily – many men find that they are surprised and pleased about this – but you also might experience some setbacks. The setbacks can be hard, but can also be powerful ways of understanding the problem. They can also give you further clues about what we need to help you get on top of the problem.
Individual counselling for pornography addiction costs $120 per 50 minute session. I don’t charge for the initial getting-to-know-you initial consultation.
If you feel this is of interest to you, please contact me to set up an initial consultation.