Starting Here
Between school, first jobs, new independence, and figuring out who you are outside of your family, your late teens and twenties can feel like a lot all at once.
Nashville is home to Vanderbilt, Belmont, Lipscomb, TSU, and many other students building a life here, often far from the support systems they grew up with. Therapy can be that support.
This Can Look Like
For young adults and students, struggle can look like:
- Anxiety about grades, career decisions, or the future
- Loneliness or difficulty building community in a new city
- Identity questions—who you are outside your family's expectations
- Comparing yourself to peers who seem to have it more figured out
- Struggling to manage independence, finances, or responsibilities for the first time
- Relationship or family stress that follows you from home
How Therapy Can Help
Therapy gives you a space that's entirely yours to figure things out. We'll help you:
- Manage anxiety about school, career, or the future
- Build confidence and a sense of identity that's genuinely your own
- Navigate independence, relationships, and new responsibilities
- Process family patterns or expectations you're beginning to question
- Build coping skills that will serve you well beyond this season
Our Approach
We meet young adults with respect, not condescension. This stage of life comes with real pressure, and our approach takes it seriously, helping you build self-understanding and skills that carry into whatever comes next.
Therapeutic Approaches We May Use
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) — clarifying values apart from others' expectations
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — managing anxiety and academic or career stress
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) — exploring identity and family patterns
- Solution-Focused Therapy — practical support for the transition to independence
- Mindfulness-Based Therapy — building tools to manage stress and overwhelm
Who Might Benefit From Treatment
This kind of therapy may be a good fit if you're:
- A college or graduate student in the Nashville area
- Newly independent and adjusting to life on your own
- Anxious about career decisions or life after graduation
- Navigating identity questions separate from your family
- Looking for a space that's entirely your own, apart from parents or roommates
What to Expect in Therapy
Your first session is about getting to know what's going on for you right now—school, relationships, family, the future—without judgment about where you are in figuring it out.
Your therapist will work with you at a pace and in a format that fits student life, including flexible online sessions for busy semesters.
Sessions are available in person at our Midtown Nashville office or online for clients throughout Tennessee.
FAQ
I'm a student—can I do online sessions around my class schedule?
Yes. We offer online therapy for clients throughout Tennessee, which many students use to fit sessions around classes, exams, and breaks, in addition to in-person sessions at our Midtown Nashville office.
Will my parents be involved or informed about what I share?
For adult clients, sessions are completely confidential, regardless of who pays for the session. If you'd like to sign a Release of Information so that your therapist can talk to your parents, we will be happy to facilitate that for you. Your therapist can talk through what that means for you specifically, especially if a parent is involved in payment or insurance.
Ready to begin counseling?
You don't have to keep carrying this on your own. Reach out to Nashville Counseling Associates, and we'll help connect you with a therapist whose training and approach fit this season of figuring things out.
