Individual Counseling & Psychotherapy
Available in-person in our Pleasanton, CA office and by telehealth in California, Washington, Arizona, and South Carolina.
Our Providers
What is Individual Counseling & Psychotherapy?
Individual Counseling & Psychotherapy gives you a safe space to work through life’s ups and downs. Whether you’re facing big changes or living with ongoing challenges like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, autism, or ADHD, therapy can help you build the tools and support you need to feel more grounded and empowered.
Individual therapy also allows you to gain new perspectives, insight, and awareness into old habits and patterns and the impact they have on your relationships.
Individual therapy is unique to the individual, and each therapist has their own approach to support you. Contact us to book a free consultation and see if individual therapy is right for you!
Types of Individual Counseling & Psychotherapy We Offer
At Merit Psychology Group, we use the following evidence-based models in our therapeutic care:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Mindfulness-Based Therapy
- Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy
- Gottman Informed Therapy
- Trauma-Informed Model of Care
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Somatic-Informed Therapy
- LGBTQIA+ Affirming Therapy
More About Our Therapeutic Approaches:
Our therapy approaches are grounded in science. If you are not sure about starting therapy, below are the types of treatment we offer.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy often used to treat depression and anxiety.
- Evidence-based psychotherapy means that the interventions and treatment used are based on research and science.
- CBT helps you change your behavior and thoughts so that you feel better about your mental health, and so you learn coping skills to deal with worries and stressors in the future.
- CBT is focused, structured, and goal-oriented.
- CBT requires clients to do work to change behaviors, therapists guide clients in the work they do.
- This form of therapy uses therapy homework, teaching and practicing skills, and measuring/monitoring of symptoms.
What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)?
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was developed by Marsha M. Linehan, PhD.
- DBT is an evidence-based psychotherapy used to treat borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, substance use, depression, and anxiety.
- DBT combines principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy with strategies related to meditation and mindfulness.
- DBT takes a balanced approach, and the skills are based on trying to find a middle path in life. This does not mean that there is no struggle in life, it just means the skills help the struggle not overwhelm you.
What is Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)?
- Mindfulness is nonjudgmental, open, present-moment awareness.
- Research has increasingly shown that mindfulness-based therapy strategies can combat stress, anxiety, and burnout.
- Studies on the physical impact of mindfulness have also shown that there can be a decrease in symptoms related to chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes when mindfulness is practiced.
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy takes a combined approach of using the thoughts and the in-the-moment experiences and awareness to develop a mind and body connection to decrease stress, depression, anxiety, and sadness.
What is Trauma-Informed Care?
- Trauma can occur from a variety of lived experiences.
- Reactions to trauma can result in feeling on edge, jittery, anxious, easily annoyed, sad out of the blue, or frustrated with things that normally don’t upset you.
- Small things in the present might put you on edge because there are events from the past that are being brought forward (these are called implicit memories).
- These moments may make you feel more uneasy or unlike yourself.
- Many people who struggle with trauma may not know that they're experiencing trauma.
- Trauma can occur after a one-time event, like a car accident or a natural disaster.
- Trauma can also be the result of long-term exposure to a difficult situation. This could mean being in a relationship or living with someone who was abusive on an emotional, sexual, or physical level.
- Trauma-informed therapy helps acknowledge the past but not live in the hurt that it has caused.
What is Attachment-Based Therapy?
- Attachments are formed early in adulthood and throughout life.
- Attachment-based therapy focuses on the traditional and nontraditional attachments that form, how we create defenses or boundaries related to these attachments, and how they impact our decisions in life.
- By looking at attachments, we can identify patterns, thoughts, or desires that may be causing relationship distress in your personal life, at work, or in your social life.
What is Somatic-Informed Therapy?
- We live in a society that brings us into our brains and “cognition” on a daily basis.
- In doing this, we remove ourselves from awareness of our physical body.
- We zoom past signals that our body sends us, like hunger, sadness, fatigue, and discomfort.
- Somatic-informed therapy highlights the need to bring you back into your body by connecting your thoughts to sensations and emphasizes not ignoring that your body holds everything you think about.
What is Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy?
- Neurodiversity is related to the different ways our brains are wired.
- Everyone’s brain is different!
- As opposed to neurotypical people, neurodiverse people have a unique perspective and interpretation of the world.
- Neurodiverse diagnoses include but are not limited to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Learning Disorders.
- By being neurodiversity-affirming as a therapist, we understand the unique way in which each brain is wired and try to tailor treatment to the differentness that is you!
How Does Therapy Help Adults?
- Therapy helps adults who struggle with anxiety and/or depression, but without the side effects of medications.
- Therapy can be a place to learn new skills and strategies to live a more present and effective life.
- Therapy can help reduce unwanted behavioral symptoms that interfere with daily functioning, like work, relationships, and taking care of yourself.
- Therapy can increase confidence, assertiveness, and feelings of self-worth.