Single Session Therapy for Individuals
What Is Single Session Therapy?
Single Session Therapy is a structured, intentional form of therapy where we work together in one, stand-alone session, with the understanding that this may be the only meeting. You don't have to commit to an ongoing process. That doesn't mean the work is superficial, it's just focused. We clarify your goals at the outset, work intensively with what feels most important, and make space for reflection and insight. You can always return for more if you choose, but SST is designed to stand on its own.
From an existential perspective, SST honours the immediacy of human experience. Each moment contains the potential for authentic encounter and transformation. The approach recognises that meaningful change can occur when we fully engage with our present circumstances rather than deferring growth to some future point.
SST can serve multiple purposes, with goals that can be many and different for each client. My aim is to help clients reach either resolution or, at minimum, a clearer sense of direction by the end of our work together.
Is Single Session Therapy Effective?
Yes, and sometimes more than people expect.
Over the past few decades, numerous studies have shown that a single well-structured therapy session can lead to meaningful change, particularly when the client comes with a clear question or goal. Research by Moshe Talmon demonstrated that most clients who attended only a single session chose not to return because they felt their concerns had been adequately addressed. This insight contributed to the evolution of Single Session Therapy (SST), which focuses on making the most of that crucial first meeting. Follow-up research with 200 clients who had attended just one therapy session with him. revealed that 78% felt satisfied with what they had accomplished and saw no need for further appointments, suggesting they had achieved their therapeutic goals.
These findings inspired the Single Session Therapy framework, encouraging therapists to treat each session as potentially complete in itself, thereby maximising the opportunity for meaningful change within that single encounter.
Why It Works
There are several reasons SST can be so effective:
Focused intention: Knowing it’s a one-time session means we get straight to what matters most. There’s no need to “warm up” over weeks. You come with what’s most pressing and alive, and we meet it head-on.
Clarity and containment: The structure of a single session provides a clear beginning, middle, and end. This can create a sense of emotional safety and containment, which is especially helpful if you're feeling overwhelmed, lost or uncertain.
Active collaboration: SST is a joint effort. We work together to unpack the issue, explore underlying patterns or tensions, and identify meaningful ways forward. Clients often leave feeling more resourced and more directed.
A sense of direction: When you’re stuck, it can be hard to see what’s next. SST helps you step back, make sense of things, and reconnect with your own values, priorities, and inner clarity, so you can move forward with intention.
Empowerment through reflection: SST is about creating a space where you feel seen, understood, and supported to access your own insight and agency through reflection and exploration.
A sense of completion: Even if the bigger picture remains complex, many people leave a single session with greater peace of mind, a clearer plan, or a small but powerful shift in perspective.
When It’s Most Helpful
SST can be particularly useful when you're:
At a crossroads, needing to make a personal or professional decision
Feeling overwhelmed, emotionally dysregulated, or unsure where to begin
Needing emotional validation or perspective after a difficult experience
Looking to gain clarity before investing in a longer-term therapeutic process
Wanting a mental reset, a space to untangle something in a focused way
While SST isn’t suitable for every issue, such as acute crises involving safety, or complex trauma that requires ongoing support, it can still be a powerful entry point, especially for individuals who feel unsure about committing to traditional therapy formats.
SST and Narcissistic Abuse Recovery
If you’ve experienced narcissistic abuse, whether from a partner, parent, or someone else, you may be left with lingering confusion, self-doubt, or emotional exhaustion. These relationships often distort reality, erode your self-worth, and leave you questioning your perceptions. You might find yourself wondering: Was it really abuse? Was it me? Why do I still feel so affected?
Single Session Therapy (SST) can offer a focused, validating space to begin making sense of your experience, without the pressure of committing to long-term therapy. When the timing is right and there’s readiness to engage, even one session can help survivors feel seen, supported, and less alone.
Breaking Through Isolation
Narcissistic abuse often involves systematic emotional and social isolation. Survivors may have been cut off from friends and family, or slowly taught to distrust their own intuition. SST can provide a crucial moment of reconnection:
Offering immediate validation that your experience was real and harmful
Beginning the process of reconnecting with your authentic self, outside the abuser’s narrative
Introducing basic psychoeducation about narcissistic abuse dynamics and trauma bonding
Reinforcing the message that healing is possible, even if it’s not yet fully in view
For many, simply having their story heard by someone who understands the patterns of narcissistic abuse can feel like an emotional breakthrough.
Clarity in the Fog of Gaslighting
Gaslighting, a hallmark of narcissistic abuse, can leave you doubting your own memories, feelings, and sanity. In SST, we create a structured, grounded space where you can:
Name and reality-check what happened
Begin to rebuild trust in your own perceptions
Understand how emotional manipulation has shaped your beliefs and self-concept
Addressing Cognitive Distortions
Narcissistic abuse creates deeply embedded thought patterns that protect the abuser’s control and undermine your confidence. SST can begin to shift these:
Challenging self-blame, guilt, and internalised shame
Naming the strategies used to make you feel “too sensitive,” “selfish,” or “difficult”
Validating your emotional responses and affirming your right to boundaries
Introducing healthier relational concepts to begin reframing your inner dialogue
Support with Boundary-Setting
Whether you’re navigating contact with the narcissistic person, going no-contact, or dealing with post-breakup guilt and manipulation, SST can help you:
Clarify what feels safe, realistic, and aligned with your values
Understand why boundary-setting can feel so difficult, especially when trauma bonds are involved
Work through emotional blocks like guilt, fear, or self-doubt, without judgment
Breaking the Trauma Bond
Even when you know intellectually that the relationship was harmful, emotionally detaching can feel impossible. SST can offer:
Insight into the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms behind trauma bonding
Language for what keeps you “hooked” into harmful dynamics
Gentle tools for beginning to untangle your identity from the abusive connection
Making Sense of Identity Confusion
Over time, narcissistic abuse often erodes your sense of who you are. SST offers space to reflect on foundational questions:
Who am I when I’m not being defined by someone else’s moods, needs, or approval?
What do I want? What do I value?
How do I begin to reclaim my voice and identity—on my own terms?
Even in a single session, beginning to explore these questions can restore a sense of direction and agency.
Safety and Empowerment
Many survivors are hesitant to seek help, afraid of being pathologised, misunderstood, or “found out” by their abuser. Others feel unsure whether they’re ready for therapy at all. SST offers a low-risk, confidential entry point that allows you to:
Test the waters of therapeutic support without obligation
Speak openly in a contained, focused, and emotionally safe space
Rebuild confidence in your capacity to seek support, trust yourself, and take action
Preparation for Future Work, or Enough on Its Own
Recovering from narcissistic abuse is often a long and layered process that typically benefits from ongoing therapeutic work. But Single Session Therapy can be a powerful first step, offering emotional grounding, clarity, and the space to identify what healing might look like for you. For some, it’s the beginning of a longer journey. For others, it’s enough to provide a meaningful shift: a validating and empowering conversation that brings relief, insight, and a renewed sense of direction.
While recovery is rarely linear, one session can mark the point where things begin to change. You don’t need to have it all figured out, you just need a safe place to begin.
How SST Can Be Helpful for ADHD
For many adults living with ADHD, diagnosed or undiagnosed, daily life can feel like a cycle of overwhelm, inconsistency, and frustration. You may have a deep capacity for creativity, empathy, or insight, yet find yourself stuck in patterns of self-criticism, burnout, or chaos.
Single Session Therapy (SST) offers a space to step back, reflect, and make sense of these experiences. Whether you’re exploring the possibility of an ADHD diagnosis or trying to manage life with an existing one, a single focused session can be grounding and genuinely helpful.
Making Sense of the ADHD Experience
ADHD isn’t just about distraction or hyperactivity, it’s about how your brain regulates attention, emotion, time, and motivation. And it often goes unrecognised in adults, especially in women or those with inattentive presentations. SST can offer:
Initial psychoeducation about how ADHD shows up across the lifespan
Help identifying common patterns like task paralysis, time blindness, emotional reactivity, or rejection sensitivity
A chance to explore internalised shame from years of feeling “too much,” “not enough,” or “inconsistent”
Reframing what looks like “laziness” or “disorganisation” as neurological differences, not moral failings
Even one session can bring immense relief when clients realise: It’s not just me. I’m not broken. This has a name.
Supporting the Diagnostic Journey
If you’re wondering whether you might have ADHD, SST can be a safe space to explore that question and get guidance on next steps:
We can discuss your symptoms, patterns, and history in a structured way
You’ll receive clear, practical guidance on how to pursue diagnosis, privately or through the NHS
We can talk through common concerns, such as fear of not being believed, stigma, or navigating healthcare systems
The diagnostic process can be confusing, invalidating, or slow. SST helps you feel more resourced and informed as you move through it.
Practical Strategies for Everyday Life
Whether or not you have a formal diagnosis, many people with ADHD benefit from targeted strategies to improve daily functioning and emotional regulation. A single session can help you identify:
What’s working, and what’s getting in your way
Tools for managing overwhelm, structuring time, or initiating tasks
Techniques for handling emotional spirals or decision fatigue
Simple, compassionate approaches to self-organisation that respect your brain’s wiring
SST is about finding what’s realistic and sustainable for you, and letting go of unhelpful perfectionism.
Navigating Relationships and Self-Worth
ADHD doesn’t just affect attention, it also shapes how you relate to yourself and others. Many clients seek support with:
Relationship difficulties stemming from impulsivity, emotional intensity, or miscommunication
Guilt over missed deadlines, forgotten plans, or inconsistency, which can strain trust with others
Feeling chronically misunderstood, or being accused of selfishness, laziness, or unreliability
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), a painful sensitivity to perceived rejection or criticism, which can lead to emotional withdrawal, conflict, or people-pleasing, even in otherwise healthy relationships
Anxiety and self-doubt that can mask or mimic ADHD symptoms, leading to confusion or misdiagnosis
SST can help you untangle these dynamics and begin to rebuild self-trust and compassion, especially if you’ve spent years feeling like something was “wrong” with you.
A Grounded Starting Point
For some people, SST becomes a one-off space to gain clarity, insight, and direction. For others, it opens the door to more in-depth exploration or support. Either way, it provides:
A non-judgmental environment to ask questions and reflect
Psychoeducation tailored to your concerns, not generic advice
Concrete next steps, whether diagnostic, emotional, or practical
A moment of relief, where you can feel understood and supported exactly as you are
What Else Can SST Support?
Single Session Therapy can be helpful for a wide range of personal issues, including:
Relationship crossroads (friendships, family, romantic)
Life transitions (career changes, moves, breakups)
Existential or spiritual questions ("Is this all there is?")
Feeling emotionally stuck or seeking a sense of renewal
Preparing for a challenging conversation or event
Some clients use SST to pause and reflect, while others come with a very specific outcome in mind. Either is welcome.
SST and the Existential Approach
Although Single Session Therapy is brief, it can still go deep—especially when grounded in an existential approach. Existential psychotherapy focuses on the realities of being human: choice, responsibility, uncertainty, and the search for meaning. It’s not abstract or overly philosophical, it’s rooted in the here and now, in the real dilemmas you face and the life you’re trying to live.
In the context of SST, the existential approach can be particularly helpful because it:
Clarifies what really matters: When time is limited, this approach helps you cut through mental clutter and reconnect with your core values and needs.
Supports decision-making: Many people seek a single session to think through a difficult choice. Existential therapy helps explore not just what to do, but why, what's meaningful and authentic for you.
Highlights personal agency: Even in uncertain or painful situations, the existential approach supports you to act from a place of self-awareness rather than reaction.
Creates space for honest reflection: Without rushing to “fix” things, it invites you to meet yourself with honesty, where you are now, what’s hurting, and what’s possible.
Even one session, held in this way, can leave you feeling more grounded, more clear, and more connected to yourself.
Is SST Right for You?
Single Session Therapy may be particularly suitable if you:
Have a specific issue you'd like focused attention on
Prefer intensive, concentrated interventions to extended therapy
Want to try therapy but feel uncertain about long-term commitment
Have found previous therapy helpful but need a "booster" session
Are facing a decision or transition point
Have practical barriers to attending multiple sessions
Value efficiency and goal-focused approaches
SST can complement other forms of support you may be receiving or serve as a complete intervention, depending on your needs and circumstances.
What can I expect from a Single Session?
A Single Session Therapy (SST) appointment lasts 75 minutes and is structured to make the most of our time together. While it’s just one session, it’s focused, collaborative, and designed to offer clarity and direction.
Here’s how it works:
Before the session (if we haven’t met before):
If we haven’t had an initial consultation, I’ll send you a short pre-session questionnaire. This helps me understand what you’re bringing to the session and whether SST is the right format for your needs. If it seems like a different kind of support would be more appropriate, I’ll let you know. If we agree to go forward with the session then we will book a time either online or from my practice in Blackheath, Southeast London.Goal-setting (First 10–15 minutes):
We’ll begin by identifying 2–3 key goals you’d like to focus on during the session. These might be practical (e.g. "How do I approach this decision?") or emotional (e.g. "I want to feel less overwhelmed"). We’ll agree on a clear focus so that our time feels purposeful.Exploration (Main body of the session):
We’ll explore what’s happening for you - thoughts, feelings, patterns, context. This is a space to talk things through, reflect, and make sense of your experience. I’ll ask questions, offer reflections, and gently challenge where needed to help you gain insight and clarity.Strategies and Next Steps (Final 10–15 minutes):
Towards the end of the session, we’ll draw things together and look at practical strategies or possible next steps. This might include tools to try, mindset shifts, boundary ideas, or resources to explore further. The aim is to leave with a clearer sense of direction.
You are welcome to take notes during the session, and I may also offer a short summary or reflection points afterwards if helpful.
Some people feel one session is enough. Others decide to book follow-ups. There’s no pressure either way. This is about supporting you in the way that feels right for where you are now.
Beyond the Session
While SST is complete in itself, many clients find it opens doors to further growth. Some return for additional single sessions when facing new challenges. Others use their SST experience as a foundation for longer-term therapeutic work. Still others find that single session provides all the support they need for their current concerns.
The choice remains entirely yours, which itself embodies the existential principle of taking responsibility for your own life and healing.
Ready to explore what's possible in a single session? Contact me to discuss how Single Session Therapy might support your journey towards greater authenticity, clarity, and wellbeing.
