Treatment Specialties

Anxiety is a normal reaction to anything that might be threatening to a person’s lifestyle, values, self, or loved ones.  Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time.  One might feel a sense of discomfort, butterflies in the stomach, a rapid heart rate, or nervous fidgeting.  Some degree of anxiety can benefit us and even motivate us to prepare for upcoming tasks such as an exam, presentation, performance, or to help ward off a threat.  However, too much anxiety can cause significant discomfort and interfere with life’s daily tasks.  By talking about your anxiety with a therapist a method of handling your anxiety can be created.  This can be done through life-coaching, the usage of coping mechanisms, or medication if deemed appropriate. 

Depression can be a symptom or a disorder.  People may have a short depressive episode, but others can suffer from a more chronic condition.  Many of us experience an occasional bad day when for no apparent reason we feel glum, irritable, or out of sorts.  However, diagnosable or clinical depression lasts for more than a day or two and you do not just start to feel better over time.  There is often significant impairment in one’s life as a result of a depressed mood relating to sleep, appetite, thoughts, school or employment, and relationships.  By talking with a therapist about these feelings a plan can be made in order to help the client navigate these emotions.

Substance abuse refers to the problematic use of alcohol, any illicit substances, or prescribed medication.  There are varying degrees of misuse, sometimes leading to a progressive increase in tolerance and a state of withdrawal causing physical and psychological symptoms.  Although some may not experience withdrawal symptoms you may still feel your life and or mood is affected.  You may want to ask for help from a health professional who specializes in this field.  Together we will identify the extent of your alcohol or drug abuse, the ways it affects you and your life and the best treatment that suits your needs. 

Trauma counseling helps clients understand what happens to the mind, body, and relationships during traumas or unresolved events.   The treatment helps the client identify present-day “triggers” or reminders of unresolved events that live in the body as a set of physiological sensations that are often stored outside of awareness.  When triggered, the client is transported back to the time of the unresolved event and feels disempowered all over again.​  During the process of identifying a trigger the client’s attachment style and nervous system state are explored to help determine which protective behaviors are used during periods of significant stress.  Next, new and more empowering behaviors are introduced that can help the client resolve the trigger in an empowering manner.  Finally, we help the client identify how resolving the trigger creates growth for the mind, body, spirit, and relationships.

Grief counseling is a form of psychotherapy that aims to help people cope with grief and mourning that can be caused by significant loss or life changes. (e.g., divorce, loss of a loved one, or job loss).  Grief counselors believe that everyone experiences and expresses grief in their own way and that it is often shaped by culture.  In this form of therapy these feelings and cultural identities are taken into account in order to shape a plan aimed to help the client through their grief.