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Individual Therapy in Washington, DC
Individual therapy is one-to-one work with a licensed clinician, and it is the largest part of what we do. We have practised this way in Washington since 2007, from our Dupont Circle office at 1320 19th Street NW. Sessions are 50 minutes, $250 to $450, seven days a week including evenings until 9pm, in person or online.
Who individual therapy is for
Most people who contact us are not in crisis. They are managing. They are also tired of managing, and something has stopped shifting on its own — a mood that will not lift, worry that has started making decisions for them, a reaction they cannot explain, or a loss that has not settled.
You do not need a diagnosis to start, and you do not need to have tried everything else first. If you are weighing it up, the free phone consultation exists precisely for that.
How we work
Most practices list the conditions they treat. The more useful question is how the work is actually done, because the method matters more than the label on your difficulty.
Internal Family Systems
IFS treats your reactions not as symptoms to remove but as parts of you that once made sense and are still trying to help. The work is learning to hear them without being run by them. Keith Miller is a Certified Level III IFS therapist and teaches the model nationally. Read more about IFS.
EMDR and trauma work
Trauma needs a method built for it. EMDR works on how a memory is stored rather than asking you to talk through it repeatedly, which suits people who find that understanding what happened has not changed how it feels. More on trauma and PTSD.
Mindfulness-based therapy
Our usual starting point for anxiety is mindfulness-based psychotherapy rather than medication. The aim is deliberate access to your parasympathetic nervous system, the brake on your body’s stress response. Reaching it on purpose is a learnable skill that often changes how manageable anxiety feels early on.
Experiential, not just conversational
Insight alone rarely changes a pattern. We use in-the-moment exercises that engage how the brain actually learns emotionally, so that something shifts during the session rather than only being described in it.
What we help with
Depression
Depression is often treated with medication alone, without much attention to what is driving it. Combining medication with talk therapy generally works better than either on its own.
Anxiety and stress
Panic, phobias, and worry that has started to shrink your life. This is one of the most common reasons people contact us.
Trauma and PTSD
Single-incident trauma and longer histories, using IFS and EMDR where talking therapy alone has not shifted it.
Anger
Anger is not confined to people whose temper gets them into obvious trouble. It shows up quietly too, as resentment finding passive routes out.
Addiction
Whether the concern is alcohol, drugs, food or sex, the pattern runs through emotion rather than around it. Understanding how emotions feed the cycle is what makes change hold.
Loneliness and disconnection
Washington is a city people move to for work and leave again. Feeling unmoored in a place full of people is more common here than most admit.
Relationship difficulty, on your own
You do not need your partner in the room to work on a relationship. A great deal of useful work happens one to one.
Grief and loss
Grief has no schedule and does not follow the stages it is supposed to, including losses other people expect you to be over.
Couples work
If the difficulty is the relationship itself, couples counseling may fit better. It has its own page.
What to expect
We work collaboratively and without judgement, aiming at the root of a pattern rather than its surface. In practice that means we:
- Use a building-block approach to change entrenched psychological and behavioural patterns, rather than trying to shift everything at once.
- Work with creative methods to reach things you do not already know about yourself, instead of revisiting material you have been over many times.
- Stay focused on the issue most relevant to your goals.
- Use experiential, in-the-moment tools that engage how the brain learns emotionally.
- Change approach if either of us notices that your goals are not being addressed.
What clients say
“I liked working with Keith because he is not the traditional counselor who bores you with the same old messages and outdated strategies to resolving everyday issues. I’ve done a lot of therapy, and his humor and warmth on top of the tools he taught me are the best I’ve had.”
— client, Chevy Chase, MD
Choosing a therapist
You do not have to work out which clinician suits you. Call the referral coordinator on extension 0, describe what you are dealing with and when you can meet, and we will match you with the clinician best suited to it rather than whoever happens to have a free slot.
Our clinicians are independent practitioners affiliated with the practice, each with a different specialism — you can read about each of them here. Individual sessions run from our Dupont Circle office and our Bethesda office, or online.
Fees and insurance
Individual sessions are $250 to $450 for 50 minutes, depending on the clinician you see. Payment is taken by card before your first session.
We do not bill insurance directly. Our clinicians are licensed, so our services qualify for reimbursement under most plans, and clients who submit their own out-of-network claims commonly recover 40–60% of what they pay. We provide the statement you need. See our full policies and fees.
Frequently asked questions
How long does therapy take?
It depends on what you are working on. Focused work on a single difficulty often runs a few months; longer-standing patterns take longer. We would rather tell you at the outset what is realistic than keep you in therapy indefinitely.
How often would I come?
Weekly to begin with, in most cases. Momentum matters early on. Many people move to fortnightly once things are steadier.
Do I need medication as well?
Often not. For severe depression, medication combined with talk therapy generally works better than either alone. We have a psychiatric nurse practitioner at our Bethesda office if that turns out to be worth exploring, and we will say so honestly if we think it is.
Can I meet online?
Yes. You can meet your counselor in person at Dupont Circle or Bethesda, online by video, or by phone. Many clients alternate between them.
How quickly can I be seen?
We offer a free phone consultation before you commit to anything. Weekday appointments before 4pm have the widest choice of clinicians; evenings and weekends fill faster.
Getting started
Call or text
Reach us on 202-629-1949 and ask for the referral coordinator on extension 0. If you would rather write than speak, use the enquiry form.
Free phone consultation
Tell us what you are dealing with and when you can meet. There is no cost and no commitment at this stage.
Matched to a clinician
We match you to the counselor best suited to your situation, then book your first 50-minute session.