Moments in time can each hold incredible opportunities to make a difference for someone’s mental health and wellbeing. People experience interactions every day with the system that when optimized and prepared for can be moments of support and positive change.

Single-session therapy (SST), sometimes called One-at-a-Time Therapy (OAAT), has been around for some time. It has been steadily gaining attention among providers and service delivery systems. SST can have tremendous impacts in different contexts with proven waitlist reductions and positive outcomes for many people. It is based on the assumption that something helpful can happen in one interaction. 

SST is an important approach because many people can only attend, or want to attend one session. In fact, research shows the most common number of therapy sessions attended is one session. If a person will only engage once and may never come back for another session, it becomes really important that the one session they have is helpful. One-at-a-Time Therapy provides an effective option for people seeking support to address their concerns in the moment. Borrowing from this approach, One-at-a-Time Thinking has been identified as a core component of SC2.0; this thinking considers that every encounter across the mental health system is an opportunity for a person to have a helpful experience and address their immediate concerns. 

This episode features Dr. Heather Hair who practiced for many years as an Approved Supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. Dr. Hair’s interest in learning led to a tenured faculty appointment and administrative positions with a Canadian university. Dr. Hair’s multi-decade work with children, youth, adults, and families began as a child care worker in open and secure treatment facilities for adolescents. Subsequently, she worked as a registered family

therapist at an Ontario inner city children’s mental health centre where she co-created and coordinated the Brief Therapy Services and developed and supervised the Brief Therapy Community Externship.

For over 25 years, Dr. Hair has been developing and providing skills training workshops on one-at-a-time counselling conversations/single session therapy and practice focused supervision as well as program consultation to providers of mental health, social, and community services as well as faith communities. Her academic and professional interests include effective practice with children, youth, and families; supervision and staff training; the intersection of practice and social justice; the social construction of knowledge and meaning; and the qualities of helping conversations that encourage hope, change, and growth.