The simple answer is; a lot of people do. The process of talking to someone in complete confidence who isn’t involved in your personal life and only has your interests in mind can be truly transformative – even for one session. Sometimes just one session is enough to feel lighter and clearer, leaving you able to continue with your life and address the issue you’ve been struggling with.
If you can be specific about the issue and commit to reflect and digest the learning you achieve, one session just might be the right path for you.
Often, therapists don’t advertise that this is an option but growing research in this area has shown that it can be beneficial. Some services offer brief therapy and most charities, EAPs, insurance companies and NHS services offer 6 sessions. If you embark on private therapy and ask; “how many sessions will I need?” it is very rare you will get an accurate answer.
It’s very difficult to predict for several reasons:
· Other issues arise as you talk
· The issue is complex, such as behavioural addictions
· You need time to build a rapport with your therapist in order to feel able to open up
· You’re not sure what the issue is
Therefore, you need to be focussed on one issue when booking a single session. Of course, the door is always open for you to book further sessions if you feel you need them or want to explore further.
Lots of counsellors offer an initial consultation to discuss the process and gather details, with single-session therapy this would be in the form of a brief telephone call and possibly a questionnaire to complete in advance. The session itself might also be slightly longer than an hour to make sure there is enough time to summarise and close.
So next time you consider therapy and feel daunted by the time or financial commitment, enquire about single-session therapy – it might be all you need to get you unstuck or feel better. Search for "short term," "brief therapy," "solution-focused" and "problem-solving" or just ask the therapist you are drawn to if you can book one session.