Which Kind of Support Fits You? Therapy for Individuals, Children, Couples, and Families
A parent lying awake wondering if their child's gone unusually quiet lately, or if that's just how teenagers are now. A couple who've swapped arguing for a kind of polite silence that somehow feels worse. Someone who's completely fine at work all day, then can't work out why they're wiped out by six.
Individual therapy Dorset is usually the right starting point when what you're carrying feels like yours alone.
Reviewed by Ian Smith, BSc (Hons), BACP (Accredited)
Different problems. Same underlying question: what kind of support actually fits this?
We offer individual therapy for adults, support for children and young people, and couples and family work, across Wimborne and Poundbury, and online. Here's how to tell which one's yours.
Key Takeaways
Individual therapy fits when it's mainly your own thoughts and feelings
Couples therapy addresses the relationship; family therapy widens to the household
Not sure which fits? Just explain what's going on and get pointed the right way
Individual therapy Dorset: individual (1-1) Therapy for Adults
The familiar version. One person, one therapist, an hour to talk through anxiety, low mood, stress, grief, whatever's going on — even if other people are wrapped up in the story. If it feels like yours to carry, this is usually the right starting point.
Support for Children and Young People
Kids often can't put what's wrong into words, and pushing them to try tends to add pressure rather than take it away. So this work leans on play and creative methods — drawing, sand tray, storytelling — rather than expecting a child to sit and talk the way an adult would.
It's not a lesser version of therapy. Play Therapy UK's own outcome data puts positive change at somewhere between 74% and 84% of children. We'll usually talk to you as a parent first, and often the school too, so the work's built around your child specifically.
If your child's struggling with anxiety, a hard transition, bereavement, or something at school they can't quite name, this is where to start.
Couples and Family Support: What's Actually the Difference?
Couples therapy is about the relationship between two people. Family therapy widens out to how the whole household's functioning, often after a divorce, bereavement, or a change nobody's quite talking about properly.
A pattern we see a lot in couples: partners quietly stop telling each other how they really feel, usually trying to protect the other person, and the distance grows precisely because neither of them is saying the difficult thing. Roughly 70% of couples see measurable improvement after a structured course of therapy — and it works at any stage, not just once things have hit crisis point.
Family therapy is less about working out whose fault something is, and more about giving everyone, kids included, a proper space to be heard.
When Work Is the Actual Problem
Workplace stress can feel like something you're not really “allowed” to bring to therapy, since your job probably isn't going anywhere. It still fits under individual therapy. We're not trying to fix your employer. We're trying to help you carry the pressure differently.
Still Not Sure? Here's a Quick Way to Work It Out
Mostly your own thoughts and feelings? Individual therapy.
About your child, and they're under 18? Support for children and young people.
Specifically the relationship with a partner? Couples therapy.
The whole household affected, not just one relationship? Family therapy.
Genuinely can't tell? Fine. Tell us what's going on when you get in touch and we'll point you the right way, rather than leaving you to guess.
Taking the First Step
For yourself or another adult, book directly below. For a child or young person under 18, there's a separate short form so we get the right information from the start.
Not sure which fits? Individual therapy Dorset is almost always a safe default while you work it out.
A Few Common Questions
Individual therapy Dorset: Can my child have therapy without the whole family being involved?
Yes. It's built around your child, though we'll usually speak to a parent or carer, and sometimes school, at the start.
What if I want couples therapy but my partner won't come?
Still worth talking to us. Individual therapy can work through relationship concerns even without both of you in the room, and it's common for one partner to start there first.
Can therapy actually help with work stress if the job itself isn't changing?
Yes. The point was never to change your employer. It's changing how much power the pressure has over you.
Individual, child and young person's, couples, and family therapy — Wimborne, Poundbury, and online.
Ready to take the next step? Book an initial assessment online — we're here when you're ready.
Written by Ian Smith, BSc (Hons), BACP Accredited, founder of Wellbeing Practice — counselling and professional support across Poundbury, Wimborne, and Online.
