What to Expect in Therapy: My Philosophy and Approach

By Kim Giunta, LMHC

Over the years, prospective clients have asked me about my approach to therapy, but lately that question has been coming up more frequently. Sometimes people are new to therapy. Others have worked with several therapists and wonder what they can expect from another experience. Some ask what makes my approach different, while others describe feeling unheard, receiving little feedback, or questioning whether therapy was helping. These are understandable questions, and I think it’s useful to explain how I work.

After nearly three decades as a mental health counselor, I’ve come to appreciate that meaningful therapy isn’t about quick fixes, rigid formulas, or someone else having all the answers. Therapy is a process that involves two people working together, each bringing something important to the therapeutic relationship.

Therapy Is a Collaborative Process

For me, therapy is fundamentally a collaborative process. Therapy isn’t something a therapist does to you. It’s something we work on together. My role isn’t to fix you, make decisions for you, or wave a magic wand and somehow make your problems disappear. Therapy isn’t a magic trick someone performs on another person. It’s a process that involves exploration, understanding, and active participation.

My role is to help create an environment in which you can develop greater self-awareness, recognize patterns, explore new perspectives, and work toward meaningful change. You bring your experiences, your history, your values, your understanding of yourself, and an openness to exploring your thoughts and feelings, even when you’re not sure where it will lead. I bring clinical training, professional experience, observations, and an outside perspective. We each bring something important to the process.

My Approach to Therapy: No One Size Fits All

My therapeutic style is eclectic. I draw from different psychological theories and approaches, particularly existential therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and humanistic therapy, depending on the individual and the concerns we’re exploring. Rather than relying exclusively on one particular model, I incorporate different perspectives and therapeutic approaches based on what seems most relevant and helpful to the person I’m working with.

Existential therapy explores meaning, personal responsibility, choices, and how we navigate uncertainty and the challenges of being human. It encourages us to examine how we understand ourselves, the meaning we assign to our experiences, and the choices available to us, even when circumstances feel limiting. Cognitive behavioral therapy examines the relationships among thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, including patterns that may contribute to distress. It can help us recognize assumptions, consider alternative perspectives, and understand how certain ways of thinking and responding influence our experiences.

Humanistic therapy emphasizes the inherent worth of each individual, personal growth, self-awareness, authenticity, and the capacity for self-determination. It recognizes the importance of empathy, acceptance, and a genuine therapeutic relationship. Rather than viewing people simply in terms of their symptoms or difficulties, this approach considers the whole person, including their experiences, values, individuality, and potential for growth.

My work is also informed by an understanding of trauma and its lasting effects on how people think, feel, relate to others, and experience the world. A trauma informed approach recognizes the importance of emotional safety, trust, personal choice, and respecting each person’s individual experiences. I believe it’s important to understand how past experiences may influence present difficulties without defining someone solely by what they’ve been through.

People are complex, and their lives rarely fit neatly into one theory. I don’t believe any single model has all the answers or that you should have to conform to a particular therapeutic approach. Therapy should respond to the individual, not the other way around. I don’t approach therapy as an assembly line where everyone follows the same steps or receives the same interventions. Each person brings a unique history, personality, and set of circumstances that deserve thoughtful attention. I believe meaningful therapy requires taking time to understand the individual rather than simply applying a predetermined formula.

What Happens During a Therapy Session?

My approach is interactive and conversational, but that doesn’t mean every session looks the same. There may be times when I take a more active role, asking questions, sharing observations, or offering feedback. At other times, I might spend more time listening, allowing you the space to express your thoughts and feelings without interruption. Both are important, and how I participate depends on what we’re exploring, what you’re experiencing, and what seems most helpful in the moment.

Sometimes we might identify patterns or connections that haven’t previously been apparent. At other times, we may examine assumptions, consider different perspectives, or discuss how past experiences influence your present circumstances. There may also be sessions when what matters most is simply having the opportunity to express something difficult and feel genuinely heard and understood. Therapy isn’t simply about talking about problems. It’s also about developing a deeper understanding of yourself and how you experience and respond to the world around you.

Therapy Is an Evolving Process

One of the things I value about therapy is that it’s an evolving process. You may begin therapy with a particular concern and discover through our conversations that other experiences, patterns, or questions are equally important. What feels most relevant may change over time, and that’s a natural part of the therapeutic process. I don’t believe every session needs a rigid agenda or must produce a specific outcome. Sometimes the most meaningful insights emerge through conversations we hadn’t anticipated.

Therapy isn’t a transaction in which each session must deliver a neatly packaged takeaway. The value isn’t always immediately obvious. Sometimes it shows up later, as patterns come into focus and connections form that weren’t visible before. Not every session needs to deliver an “aha moment” to matter. Some conversations may feel significant immediately, while others may take on greater meaning as you reflect on them or encounter situations in your daily life that bring new understanding.

I believe it’s important to identify what brings someone to therapy and what they hope to accomplish. However, goals may evolve as our understanding deepens. We periodically evaluate progress and the effectiveness of our work together, but I don’t believe therapy should be confined to a rigid agenda or checklist of accomplishments. There is room for structure and direction while also allowing the therapeutic process to unfold naturally.

What About Coping Skills and Techniques?

People sometimes begin therapy hoping to learn specific strategies for managing anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, or other challenges. Practical strategies and coping skills can certainly be helpful, and they may be part of our work together. However, I don’t view therapy as simply providing a collection of techniques for you to practice. Coping skills aren’t necessarily separate from the therapeutic conversation. They often emerge naturally as we explore different perspectives, recognize patterns, and consider new ways of responding to life’s challenges.

I don’t arrive at each session with a bag of tools to hand out. Instead, we work together to discover what may be helpful for you, sometimes without explicitly labeling those discoveries as coping skills. For example, two people may experience anxiety for entirely different reasons. Although certain strategies might help both individuals manage their immediate symptoms, understanding what’s contributing to their anxiety can be equally important.

Similarly, someone struggling with difficult relationships may benefit from developing better communication skills or learning to establish healthier boundaries. But meaningful change may also involve understanding longstanding relationship patterns, personal beliefs, emotional responses, and the experiences that shaped them. Sometimes therapy involves learning specific skills. Other times, it involves questioning old beliefs, recognizing patterns, processing experiences, or discovering that you have more choices than you previously realized. Often, it involves a combination of these things.

My intention isn’t simply to help you manage difficult feelings in the moment, although that can certainly be important. It’s also to help you develop a deeper understanding of yourself so that you can approach life’s challenges with greater awareness and flexibility.

Therapy Isn’t About Giving Advice or Having All the Answers

Although I actively participate in our conversations and offer feedback and observations, I don’t view my role as telling you what to do. I believe helping you develop your own understanding, recognize your choices, and make informed decisions is ultimately more valuable than simply telling you what I think you should do. My role isn’t to impose my values, beliefs, or opinions on you. You are the person living your life, and you are the one who ultimately decides what is meaningful, important, and appropriate for you.

I may offer perspectives you haven’t considered, ask questions that encourage deeper reflection, or gently challenge assumptions that may be limiting you. However, these conversations are intended to expand your awareness and understanding, not to direct your decisions. Therapy isn’t about someone else having all the answers, telling you what to do, or deciding how you should live your life. It’s about creating an environment where you can examine your experiences, consider different possibilities, and develop greater confidence in your ability to make decisions that reflect your own values and circumstances.

How Do We Know If Therapy Is Helping?

Therapy doesn’t always produce immediate or easily measurable results. Sometimes progress involves recognizing a pattern you hadn’t previously noticed. Other times, it may involve responding differently to a familiar situation, developing a greater understanding of your emotional reactions, or gradually changing how you relate to yourself and others. Not every session needs to produce a dramatic breakthrough to be meaningful, and progress isn’t necessarily linear.

There may be times when you feel you’re making significant changes and other times when you find yourself revisiting familiar concerns. Revisiting an issue doesn’t automatically mean you’re standing still. Sometimes we’re able to examine an experience from a different perspective or understand something more deeply than we did before. What once felt confusing or overwhelming may gradually become clearer as you develop a greater awareness of yourself and your circumstances.

At the same time, I believe it’s important to periodically reflect on whether therapy continues to feel helpful and meaningful. That doesn’t mean evaluating every session against a predetermined set of goals or expecting a particular result within a specific number of appointments. It means maintaining an open dialogue about your experience of therapy, what you’re discovering, and whether our work continues to address what matters to you. My intention isn’t to keep you in therapy indefinitely. It’s to help facilitate a process that supports greater understanding, personal growth, and increasing confidence in your ability to navigate life’s challenges.

What Can You Expect From Me?

You can expect me to approach our work with respect, curiosity, compassion, and honesty. You can also expect a thoughtful approach grounded in clinical knowledge and experience. I recognize that you are the expert on your own experiences. While I bring professional knowledge and an outside perspective to our work, I don’t assume that I have all the answers. You don’t need to arrive at every session knowing exactly what you want to discuss. You don’t need to have everything figured out, and you certainly don’t need to know how to solve your own problems. That’s part of what we can explore together.

Therapy provides a safe, confidential environment where you can openly explore your thoughts, feelings, and experiences without fear of judgment. You may share things with me that you’ve never told anyone before, and perhaps never will tell anyone else. The therapeutic relationship itself is an important part of this process. Trust, open communication, empathy, and the experience of being genuinely understood can create an opportunity to examine things that may be difficult to discuss elsewhere.

I believe a productive therapeutic relationship involves mutual respect, authenticity, and a willingness to explore experiences and perspectives together. Therapy does involve participation. While I can offer professional guidance, observations, and an environment that encourages personal exploration, I cannot do the work of self-reflection or personal change for you. That doesn’t mean you need to make progress at a particular pace or approach therapy in a particular way. It simply means recognizing that meaningful therapeutic work involves a collaborative effort in which we each bring something important to the process.

Ultimately, Therapy Is About More Than Solving Problems

Although people often seek therapy because they’re experiencing emotional distress or facing a particular difficulty, I believe the benefits can extend beyond resolving an immediate concern. Therapy can provide an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of who you are, how you’ve been shaped by your experiences, what matters most to you, and how you want to move forward.

One of the things I hope to help people develop through therapy is a greater sense of authenticity. That means becoming more aware of who you really are, what you think and feel, what matters to you, and how you want to live. We often develop ways of thinking, behaving, and relating to others based on expectations, past experiences, or what we’ve learned we need to do to be accepted. Therapy can offer space to explore those patterns, question beliefs that no longer serve you, and develop a more genuine and honest relationship with yourself and others.

Sometimes that involves making changes. Other times, it involves learning to navigate circumstances that cannot easily be changed, accepting certain realities, or finding meaning and direction despite ongoing challenges. I don’t promise quick fixes or immediate solutions. What I offer is a thoughtful, consistent, and collaborative approach that respects your individuality and allows room for exploration, understanding, and personal growth.

Ultimately, I believe therapy is about helping you develop a more authentic relationship with yourself, a greater understanding of your experiences, and the freedom to approach your life with increased awareness, confidence, and intention.