Individual Therapy for Adults

Serena’s stress began to lighten through therapy.

Therapy is a unique opportunity to get to know the full you and what’s working and what’s not. Here is a client story of Serena* that captures her journey.

Serena is a 28-year-old biracial, queer female. She keeps fighting with friends, and romantic relationships never seem to stick. Fights with her girlfriend became scarier and made Serena feel out of control. The relationship ended.

Highly driven, Serena launched her own company last year. She loves it, but she’s stressed as she works daily to make her business the best possible. She is in overdrive, but it never feels like enough. The daily grind wears on her.

Constantly being on the go has consequences. Serena has pain in her neck, lower back, shoulders, and hips. She hates the discomfort, mainly because she’s always moving. There’s too much to do to stop, but she takes the advice of a friend and decides it’s time to try therapy.

In therapy, Serena can openly speak about her frustrations – with her family, friends, relationships, and stress with work. Serena feels amazed by how many feelings she keeps in her body. Even after her first session, Serena feels lighter, like a weight lifted from her chest. Saying what’s on her mind in a nonjudgmental space feels fantastic, and she wants to keep doing it.

The family came first – Serena last.

Together, we connected the dots to why Serena thinks as she does and what she does.

Growing up, Serena had to set aside many emotions and attend to her siblings and divorced parents. Serena realizes that she worked hard to control what she could, making sure everyone else was ok while putting on a smile.

In therapy, Serena started to empathize with how much this feeling of “never enough” pushed her not to let anyone down.

Serena was queer in a family culture where being gay was not ok. Shame kept Serena from opening up about her whole identity.

Therapy helped Serena gain a positive perspective.

In therapy, Serena started to be more compassionate for many things she had to figure out as a kid and young adult.

As challenging as her early life was, Serena realized that her shame and fear protected her when she didn’t have the support back then that she does now in therapy.

In each session, Serena learns more and more about how she did the best she could while growing up. There was a lot of relief in this and a lot of grieving. But it all felt right, and I was right there with her.

Therapy has its challenging moments.

As we continued to meet, Serena expressed powerful feelings about grief associated with her relationship, shame, anger, fear, and more. Serena continues to experience these feelings entirely – not only in her mind but her whole body.

Having those feelings is difficult, but Serena doesn’t feel the same anxiety or depression that wore her down. Even though it’s a lot, she likes feeling these emotions because they provide a release.

Serena feels safe in our sessions, and our work pushes her to grow but not beyond what she can handle. She appreciates learning about anxiety, depression, trauma, and how the mind and body interact is an enlightening experience – bringing more clarity about how she feels.

Serena feels more connected to her body and can regulate complex emotions. Here shame and other feelings continue to soften.

Therapy is even fun sometimes.

Putting together the puzzle pieces of her life is a joyful experience for Serena. Humor helps break up tough topics.

Serena feels more in control but not in a tight grip. The pain and tension in her body lighten up, making her proud of her work and who she is. As we progress in our sessions, Serena takes weekends off to care for herself, hires her first employee, and allows them to lead some projects.

After coming out as queer to her siblings, Serena has a closer relationship with them. Now, she has started dating again and continues to process challenges in therapy sessions.

Life is different for Serena. She no longer feels like a failure, has a positive feeling about her work, and is not afraid to ask for help. Serena’s healing is ongoing, but she is no longer scared because her future seems clearer and full of possibilities.

Take Serena’s lead and seek the help you need.

Whether this story resonates with you or you aren’t quite yourself anymore, I would love to hear from you.

Serena experienced the benefit of receiving individual therapy with me, and I am sure we can address what keeps you stuck.

Call me at (202) 875-5861 for a free phone consultation.

I’m excited to help you on your journey toward healing and wholeness.

*Name and story is a composite narrative and does not reflect an actual client.