Individual Therapy
Individual Therapy for Adults in California
Individual therapy is one-to-one counseling between you and a licensed therapist. At Rise & Rooted Therapy it is provided by secure video to adults anywhere in California, and focuses on understanding the patterns behind what you are feeling, not only managing the feeling itself. Sessions typically run about 50 minutes, weekly at first.
Why this happens
Why people come to individual therapy
Almost no one arrives with a tidy problem statement. More often there is a sense that something has been off for a while: a worry that will not settle, a reaction that keeps outpacing the situation, a relationship that feels harder than it should.
Underneath, there is usually a pattern. You brace before hard conversations because bracing once kept you safe. You over-function because being useful was how you earned steadiness. You go quiet because speaking up did not go well before. These responses made sense where they were learned. They just cost more than they return in the life you have now.
Individual therapy is where that gets traced, understood, and gradually changed.
What this often looks like
- Worry or overthinking that runs in the background most days
- Feeling overwhelmed by emotions, or unable to feel much at all
- The same relationship dynamic repeating with different people
- Being highly capable at work while feeling depleted underneath
- Difficulty setting boundaries, particularly with family
- A transition that has left you feeling unmoored
The work
How therapy helps
We start with what is most pressing, because relief matters and waiting for insight while you are struggling is not kind. Alongside that, we look at the history the pattern came from, so the change holds rather than fading when things get stressful.
Over time, individual therapy tends to help with:
- Understanding why you respond the way you do, in specific situations
- Recognizing patterns early enough to choose differently
- Building tolerable ways to handle intense emotion
- Communicating needs without either swallowing them or escalating
- Setting boundaries that hold, especially with family
- Feeling more like yourself in your closest relationships
Getting started
When to consider reaching out
You do not need to reach a threshold of suffering to qualify for support. If you have been privately wondering whether therapy might help, that wondering is generally reason enough to have a conversation about it.
It is worth reaching out if what you are carrying has started to affect your sleep, your work, your health, or your relationships; if the strategies that used to work have stopped working; or if you are tired of managing it alone.
“You do not have to arrive with it organized. Much of early therapy is putting words to what has only been felt.”
Start with a conversation, not a commitment.
Consultations are free, about 20 minutes, and there is no obligation to book after. It is simply a chance to talk through what is going on and see whether working together feels right.
Common questions
Questions about individual therapy
It depends on what you are working on. Focused concerns such as a specific transition may settle within a few months. Longstanding patterns, particularly attachment-related ones, generally take longer because we are changing something well practiced. We review progress together rather than leaving it open-ended.
Usually weekly to begin with. Consistency early on matters more than people expect, because it is what allows momentum to build. As things steady, many clients move to every other week.
Yes. A great deal of relational change starts with one person. When you shift how you respond within a pattern, the pattern itself has to reorganize. If couples work later makes sense, we can talk about couples therapy then.
For most adults seeking support with anxiety, relationships, emotional regulation, and life transitions, telehealth is a well-established way to receive therapy. The working relationship still forms and the work still happens. What changes is the logistics around it.
More questions are answered on the frequently asked questions page, and fees are listed on fees & insurance.
Keep exploring
Related areas of focus
Anxiety Therapy
For the worry, overthinking, and physical tension that persist even when life looks fine from the outside.
Learn moreEmotional Regulation
For feeling flooded, shut down, or reactive, and wanting steadier ground in your closest relationships.
Learn moreLife Transitions
For the in-between seasons: a move, a new role, a growing family, a relationship or identity in flux.
Learn more
Who you would be working with
About your therapist
Silvana is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (License #108266) and the founder of Rise & Rooted Therapy, a telehealth practice serving adults and couples throughout California. Her work is relationship-centered, attachment-informed, and grounded in a family systems perspective.
Read more about how she works →
Rise & Rooted Therapy · Telehealth throughout California