Individual and Family Therapy

Getting Started

To make a first appointment, simply complete our online appointment form. You can call our offices, however with the reduced staff in our offices we are not able to return those phone calls quickly - expect a one business day turn around on any message left at our offices. We will answer any questions you may have, discuss finances, help you choose a therapist and guide you through the process of getting started.

Wellspring offers individual therapy in many different locations in Miami as well as on-line. Generally, sessions are 50 minutes long and are held in a private office with a therapist of your choice. Often, sessions are scheduled weekly, which provides time for the application of new insights or tools learned in therapy. Sessions may also be booked "intensively" meaning 2-3 sessions a day for 1-5 days. This format allows for quick work and reduces time lost in the weekly check-in.

In-Person and Online Therapy Options

Effective July 1, 2021, in-person therapy will return to Wellspring. Read more about our return to in-person therapy.

Who would benefit from telehealth therapy?

• Current clients who normally come in for sessions but are out of town for school or work, such as college students.

• "Techy" people who prefer to communicate through the cyber-world.

• Out of town people who would like to be Wellspring clients.

• Anyone living in Miami who can't bear fighting traffic to get to an appointment.

• Individuals who want the option of additional privacy by not coming into an office.

What does online therapy work?

• Wellspring uses Zoom through InSync—our HIPAA compliant electronic medical records platform. Verify your system requirements.

• The platform can be accessed on a variety of devices including smart phones, laptops, tablets, and desktops computers.

• The program provides video screen sharing so you can see your therapist. It also allows you and your therapist can share documents.

• Your appointment will be like any other appointment. The therapist will reserve your time slot just for you and will be sitting in one of our Wellspring offices during your session, just as if you were coming in person.

• Here are some tips on Telehealth Etiquette from our blog.

For Someone Else

If you are calling to help someone else start therapy, you are welcome to ask us any questions that might be helpful to you. If the individual is 18 years or older, he/she will need to book the first appointment directly with us, but we can guide you in how to encourage your friend or family member to come for therapy.

If you would like to sponsor someone else's therapy, contact our office for arranging details. The client will need to sign a release for us to provide you any information about their attendance at the sessions.

Couples and Families

In this COVID-19 climate the challenges for couples and families being around each other is challenging, but it can have benefits for working through this season and creating future healthy relations. The opportunity for telehealth (online) therapy sessions right in your home environment are available and could involve one or two sessions to help everyone align in the new normal.

A "couple" or "family" is any two or more people (regardless of marital/legal status) who wish to work on their relationship with each other. When families come for therapy, we encourage them to come in together if at all possible. If, in the course of therapy, you and your therapist decide that individual sessions will be helpful in addition to the family work, a different therapist may be recommended for the individual work in order to protect the neutral stance of the therapist for the family. 

Family Therapy includes several members of a family unit in session at the same time. Family therapy is useful to help address concerns that include communication, relationship concerns, boundaries, conflicts within the family, and misunderstandings among other topics. 

This is a uniquely stressful and opportune time for families. Family therapy can help in any of these ways:

• Establishing new routines and communication channels

• Managing personality differences for handling stress & togetherness

• Handling stressful news about a family member’s health or finances

• Boundaries for adjusting to togetherness

• Enhancing meaningful interactions and engagements during this opportunity

Wellspring always offers family therapy, but we often have trouble scheduling the sessions because of the busy lifestyles of most families. This time period is a unique opportunity for families to have a guide for improving communication so that all members in a family are heard, valued and feel well-cared for. If we can be of help to your family, schedule a session and invite a therapist into your home (virtually) to help mediate or guide your family to short-term solutions or long-term growth.

Children

In order for someone under 18 years of age to come for therapy, the child's legal guardian must sign the consent for service forms. Generally, parents of younger children are seen without their children for the first session; older children or teenagers are generally seen with the adult/parent bringing them for the first session. The therapist will then make a plan for therapy with the help of the child and adult's input. If a parent prefers to have an individual session prior to an older child being seen, in order to discreetly describe the parent's concerns, they should book that first session separately. After sessions have begun, the therapist will report to the parent regarding progress and assessments, but this will be done with great respect for the child's wishes for privacy regarding details of the session. 

We will only see a child who is resistantly brought for therapy for a few times. If after that, the child continues to decline the opportunity to use therapy for his/her own purposes (has no "buy in"), we will respect the child's wishes and inform the parents. It is better to end the therapeutic experience well, in hopes of the child seeking help in the future, than to force an unwanted experience. 

Ending Therapy

The average number of sessions for our clients is 10, but this varies greatly according the to needs of each client. Our purpose for therapy is to help you meet your goals and to provide you with resources and tools to live a fulfilled life without therapeutic help. In effect, we hope to work ourselves out of a job. Eighty-two percent of our clients meet or exceed their goals for therapy. This success rate is strongly correlated to the client's consistent participation in the therapeutic process.   Ideally, you will finish your therapy, end well with your therapist, and leave a welcome open door to return for a check-in or an occasional "tune up" as needs arise. Our ethical guidelines prevent us from developing ongoing personal friendships with clients after therapy ends, but that doesn't mean that we don't consider you a person with whom we have fondness, care and concern. We love to hear from you about how you are doing even years after your therapy ends. It encourages us to keep going in our work and to celebrate your successes and ours.