Individual therapy for relationship patterns, identity, and intimacy.
For individuals wanting to explore relationship patterns, sexuality, identity, or emotional connection with themselves and others.
Understanding yourself is the foundation of every good relationship— including the one you have with yourself.
Individual Therapy provides a neutral, unbiased, and supportive environment to dive into your goals, work on patterns you’d like to change, and have the chance to understand every part of yourself, even the ones you haven’t been able to explore before. A space where your needs get to come first and where you are met exactly where you are and for who you are.
Sometimes the most important relationship work you can do is the work you do alone. Individual therapy with me is a space to slow down, get curious, and understand the patterns that show up in your relationships — with partners, with your own body, and with yourself.
I'm Dr. Anna Smith, a Licensed Psychologist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist. While I'm known for my work with couples and in sex therapy, I deeply value individual therapy as its own powerful process. Many of my individual clients come to me specifically because they want a therapist who can speak openly about sexuality, identity, and intimacy — without flinching.
Most of us aren’t taught how to communicate, trust ourselves, or listen to our bodies. Therapy can help you understand yourself, your relationships, and how your previous experiences and desires shape your current experiences. Whatever challenge you’re facing is a valid reason to seek support.
Individual therapy can include:
Identity or Orientation Exploration: Still figuring it out? That’s not a problem to solve — it’s a process to be in. I don’t push you toward any particular conclusion.
Trauma: It doesn’t stay in the past. It shows up in your body, your relationships, and the way you move through the world.
Feelings of inauthenticity: Not feeling “enough” and how heavy that feeling becomes,
Shame & Stigma: That internalized junk that gets lodged in us (whether it’s around gender, sexuality, kink, or other identity aspects)
Anxiety, worry, or rumination: Our minds don’t have an “off-switch” and it can be exhausting
Poly Struggles/conflicts: Opening up a relationship, metamour conflicts, or dealing with a world that doesn’t get it.
Self-Worth Issues: The inner critic that tells you you’re not enough, over and over.
Minority Stress: The constant low-grade stress of being queer in a straight world — hypervigilance, microaggressions, the mental math of deciding who’s safe to be out around. I don’t separate your mental health from your identity, because they’re not separate.
All of these issues impact us in profound ways and they impact our ability to have happy and connected relationships. Whatever you are holding or struggling with, you don’t need to struggle alone anymore.
My approach
I draw on Emotionally Focused approaches, attachment theory, and trauma-informed care to help you understand how your early experiences shaped your relational world — and how you can shift those patterns. I'm warm, curious, and direct. I'll be honest with you, and I'll also sit with you in the hard stuff without rushing.
Individual sessions are 55 minutes via secure telehealth. Many clients find meaningful change within 8–12 sessions; others choose longer-term work for deeper transformation. Together, we'll figure out what's right for you.
Offering online therapy in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington DC, and beyond.