Adult and Relationship Counselling
Adult counselling is a process by which the client/s are invited to look honestly at their behaviour and lifestyle and make certain decisions about the ways in which they want to examine and/or modify the quality of their life. Within this framework, Toronto Psychological Services therapists provide support and warmth yet enough care to challenge and confront.
The counselling process begins with the client/s and the therapist coming to a joint understanding of the client’s issues and self-defeating patterns that may be preventing the client’s growth and interfering with their ability to meet personal and relationship goals.
Brief or longer term counselling: The goals of counselling are sometimes accomplished by adults in a brief intervention therapy. Some clients, however, require more time to engage in a significant exploration of their “problems in living”.
Individual Issues
Some issues that adults and older adolescents may address in counselling:
- Anger management
- Anxiety/OCD
- Assertiveness
- Body image
- Boundary setting
- Communication challenges
- Court mandated counselling
- Cross-cultural values
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Grief and loss
- Interpersonal Skills
- Low Self-Esteem
- Parenting
- Power & Control
- Sexual Issues
- Sexual Orientation
- Social difficulties
- Stress and burnout
- Survivor of violence
- Trauma & Abuse
- Workplace & Career Issues
Couple ~ Relationship Issues
Toronto Psychological Services, therapists approach couple work with a practical and compassionate understanding of the pluralism in family ways. Married, unmarried, preparing to marry, common-law and/or persons living in a same-sex relationship are all welcome to explore the following issues:
- Blended Family
- Communication
- Conflict/Separation
- Sexual Intimacy
- Enhance commitment
- Parenting
- Reconnection
- Repair/Healing
- Same-sex relationship
Approach to Couples Counselling
Brief Couple Counselling ~ Therapy: Approximately 60% of couple counselling at TPS could be described as brief therapy and is generally completed in 6-8 sessions. The focus of brief counselling is interrupting and redirecting problem behaviour and communication that is not allowing the kind of relationship both partners want and need. A primary goal is to put each partner in touch with their own capacity for nurturing and creative relating within a fairly short time.
Positive couple counselling begins with a clear agreement between the partners that their exchanges will not involve shaming one another, blaming the other or using abusive language or name calling.
The aim of the first session will be:
- Identify the problem/s or major ‘stuck’ points according to each partner
- Identify areas of strength and common values of the couple as well as the deficits in the relationship
- Assessing the level of awareness of ‘the problem’ as experienced by each partner
Subsequent sessions will:
- Focus on effective problem-solving and conflict resolution
- Deal with underlying pain
- Reaffirm the level of emotional intimacy, capacity to have fun and sexual gratification that is important to both partners
- Helping the couple renew trust, respect, warmth and loving support for one another
- Identify outmoded patterns of communication in the couple’s relationship and develop more positive communication
- Outline homework assignments that will directly relate to the issues
Longer Term Couples Counselling ~ Therapy: Approximately 40% of couple counselling at TPS involves more extensive work with couples. More prolonged work with a therapist may be essential for some couples. In some cases, there are long-standing resentments and hurts that prevent a movement forward or deep-seated personal conflicts that may lead to an inability for one or both partners to deal constructively with the issues. However, there are other reasons for couples to pursue longer term counselling. Some couples are coping well on a day-to-day basis but request longer term counselling in order to deepen and enhance their commitment.
Longer term therapy will include all of the points outlined in the brief therapy sessions but will also address deeper levels of conflict and allow more opportunities to practice positive communication between the partners. Importantly, longer term counselling allows for the consolidation of new patterns of behaviour in the course of therapy and could increase commitment.
Anger Management
It is well-documented fact that millions of people experience the painful effects of anger, including cardiovascular disease, depression, obesity, low self-esteem, migraine headaches, ulcers, poor interpersonal relationships, spouse abuse, child abuse, divorce, alcoholism, drug addiction, lowered job productivity, job loss, chronic distress and broken hearts to name just a few. TPS offers counselling to individuals struggling with anger management and associated difficulties.
Individual Counselling for Anger Management: Self-referred individuals struggling with anger problems call TPS on a regular basis. In some way, these insightful individuals have identified that anger negatively impacts their life and seek change. Therapists at TPS routinely suggest that adults and older adolescents reinforce the success of their anger management counselling by completing an anger work-book while they attend counselling. Therapists use a step-by-step approach to understanding and coping with anger.
Court Mandated Counselling: Completion of court specified number of counselling sessions. A letter can be sent to the court verifying that the clinical sessions have been attended and the outcome.