A dedicated primary therapist
You are assigned one clinician who owns your treatment plan from intake through discharge, rather than a rotating cast of providers. Continuity is what lets therapy actually build on itself week to week.
Individual therapy · Arlington, VA
One-to-one individual therapy in Arlington, Virginia
A dedicated primary therapist, a written treatment plan, and consistent weekly work on your specific history and goals, built into PHP, IOP, and standalone outpatient care for adults in Arlington, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia.
- Most insurance accepted
- Day & evening IOP tracks
- Telehealth for Virginia residents only
Medically reviewed by the VABH Medical Team
What individual therapy looks like
One therapist, one plan, real continuity
Individual therapy is where the general work of a program becomes specific to you. Here's how we structure it.
What happens in a session
Sessions open with a check-in on symptoms and the week's events, move into focused work on a specific skill or pattern, and close with a plan for what to practice before the next session. Nothing is generic filler.
Treatment planning that's actually used
Your first sessions build a written plan with specific goals — fewer panic episodes, a certain number of sober days, returning to work — that your therapist and you both track and revise as things change.
Frequency across levels of care
Individual sessions happen roughly weekly in PHP, weekly to biweekly in IOP alongside group work, and weekly in standalone outpatient therapy. Frequency adjusts as symptoms stabilize.
Learn more about Frequency across levels of careConfidentiality you can count on
What you say to your individual therapist stays between you and your treatment team, protected under federal law, with narrow exceptions for imminent safety risk that your therapist will explain clearly up front.
Individual work alongside group
Group teaches skills in a shared setting; individual sessions are where you apply those skills to your specific history, relationships, and triggers. The two are designed to reinforce each other, not duplicate each other.
Learn more about Individual work alongside groupTrauma-focused individual work
For clients with a trauma history, individual therapy is often where the deeper processing work happens, at a pace your therapist sets with you rather than on a group's schedule.
Learn more about Trauma-focused individual workMedication coordination
Your therapist communicates directly with our prescribing team, so if our medical staff may prescribe a change, your therapy plan adjusts alongside it instead of running on a separate track.
What happens across a course of treatment
From intake to discharge, each session builds on the last
Individual therapy isn't a weekly conversation that starts over each time. It's a plan that moves forward.
Diagnostic intake
A structured clinical interview covering symptom history, prior treatment, substance use, safety, and life context, used to match you with the right therapist and level of care.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Used one-to-one to identify the specific thought patterns driving your symptoms and to build and review thought records between sessions.
Learn more about Cognitive Behavioral TherapyDialectical Behavior Therapy skills coaching
Individual sessions are where DBT skills learned in group get applied to your actual conflicts and urges, often with diary card review built into the hour.
Learn more about Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills coachingMotivational interviewing
For clients who are ambivalent about change, especially around substance use, this approach meets you where you are instead of arguing you into readiness.
Trauma-informed processing
Pacing and stabilization work precede any deeper trauma processing, so sessions never re-traumatize by moving faster than your nervous system can tolerate.
Between-session homework
Most weeks include a specific, concrete task — a thought record, a behavioral experiment, a values-based activity — reviewed at the start of the following session.
Family and relationship check-ins
When it's useful, your therapist can loop in a partner or family member for a session focused on communication, without turning individual therapy into family therapy.
Discharge and stepdown planning
As you approach the end of a program, individual sessions shift toward relapse prevention and connecting you with ongoing weekly care so progress holds.
Levels of care
Individual sessions at every level of care
However intensive your program is, an individual session with your primary therapist is part of it.
- 015 days/week · ~6 hrs/day
Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
Daily groups plus a weekly individual session with your primary therapist to translate that day's clinical work into your specific situation.
- 023–5 days/week · day or evening
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
Individual sessions run weekly to biweekly alongside group, giving you a private space to work through what surfaces in group but doesn't belong there.
- 03Weekly · ongoing
Outpatient therapy & medication management
Standalone weekly individual therapy for people who don't need the structure of PHP or IOP but want consistent, focused clinical work.
- 04Virginia-statewide
Telehealth individual therapy
Full individual sessions by secure video for Virginia residents, since our clinicians are licensed in Virginia. In-person care serves Virginia, Maryland, and DC.
Across the river from Maryland
Convenient for Maryland commuters
Our Arlington center is a short drive from Bethesda, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County. Maryland clients regularly attend in-person individual sessions here as part of PHP or IOP, and evening tracks keep treatment compatible with a DC workday. Telehealth sessions are available for Virginia residents.
Common questions
Individual therapy questions, answered
Will I have the same therapist every session?
Yes. You're matched with one primary therapist at intake, and that person stays with you through the program unless there's a clinical reason to change, which we'd discuss with you first.
How is individual therapy different from group?
Group therapy teaches skills and provides peer support in a shared setting. Individual therapy is where those skills get applied to your specific history, relationships, and triggers, in a private conversation with one clinician who knows your full case.
How often will I have individual sessions?
It depends on your level of care. PHP typically includes one individual session per week alongside daily groups. IOP includes individual sessions weekly to biweekly. Standalone outpatient therapy is usually weekly.
Is what I say in individual therapy confidential?
Yes, with narrow exceptions required by law, such as an imminent risk of harm to yourself or someone else, or suspected abuse of a child or vulnerable adult. Your therapist will walk through these limits with you at intake so there are no surprises.
Can I do individual therapy without joining PHP or IOP?
Yes. Standalone weekly outpatient therapy with medication management is available for people whose symptoms don't require the structure of a full-day program.
Is individual therapy available by telehealth?
Yes, for Virginia residents. Our clinicians are licensed in Virginia, so telehealth sessions are offered statewide. In-person individual therapy at our Arlington center is open to Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC residents.
Does insurance cover individual therapy?
Most major commercial plans cover individual outpatient therapy as a behavioral health benefit. Our admissions team verifies your benefits and gives you an expected cost before your first session.
In-person care at 5400 Shawnee Road, Arlington, VA for VA, MD, and DC residents. Telehealth for Virginia residents only.
If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 911.
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Talk to someone who's done this before
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- Admissions — 24/7(571) 586-2883
- Location5400 Shawnee Road, Arlington, VA
Insurance accepted
Insurance coverage for individual therapy
Individual outpatient therapy is a covered behavioral health benefit under most commercial plans — Anthem, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, Sentara Health Plans, UMR, and Johns Hopkins Health Plans. Send us your card and we'll confirm your benefits before your first session.
Don't see your plan? Call us — we also work with out-of-network benefits and self-pay.