PRACTICE
AREAS
If you feel like hurting yourself or someone else, please don't wait to talk to someone. If you feel like your safety is at risk, especially if you are feeling suicidal, PLEASE CALL 911 or go directly to the closest emergency room.
We offer psychoeducation and counseling, We do not prescribe medications. Clients who require medication in addition to Counseling/Therapy are referred to an appropriate prescribing physician.
Depression & Self Harm
Self-harm is not a mental illness, but a behavior that indicates a lack of coping skills. Several illnesses are associated with it, including borderline personality disorder, depression, eating disorders, anxiety or posttraumatic distress disorder.
Bipolar
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities.
Fear & Anxiety
Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Anxiety disorders affect 40 million people in the United States (U.S.). It is the most common group of mental illnesses in the country. However, only 36.9 percent of people with the condition receive treatment.
ADHD
ADHD is a disorder that makes it difficult for a person to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. He or she may also be restless and almost constantly active. ADHD is not just a childhood disorder. Although the symptoms of ADHD begin in childhood, ADHD can continue through adolescence and adulthood.
Oppositional Disorder
The cause of oppositional defiant disorder is unknown but likely involves a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Symptoms generally begin before a child is eight years old. They include irritable mood, argumentative and defiant behavior, aggression, and vindictiveness that last more than six months and cause significant problems at home or school.
Conduct Disorder & Impulse Control
Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders. Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is characterized by a recurrent pattern of negativistic, defiant, disobedient, and hostile behavior toward authority figures.Children with these disorders have problems with control of their emotions and behavior. While all children are occasionally unable to control their impulses, these children have unusual difficulty for their age, resulting in behavior that violates the rights of others and/or brings them into conflict with authority figures.
Examples of PsychoTherapy
Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that is most frequently used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and phobias. During treatment, a person works with a therapist to identify the triggers of their anxiety and learn techniques to avoid performing rituals or becoming anxious when they are exposed to them. The person then confronts whatever triggers them in a controlled environment where they can safely practice implementing these strategies.
There are two methods of exposure therapy. One presents a large amount of the triggering stimulus all at once (“flooding”) and the other presents small amounts first and escalates over time (“desensitization”). Both help the person learn how to cope with what triggers their anxiety so they can apply it to their everyday life.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on exploring relationships among a person's thoughts, feelings and behaviors. During CBT a therapist will actively work with a person to uncover unhealthy patterns of thought and how they may be causing self-destructive behaviors and beliefs.Based on the idea that the way an individual think and feels affects the way he or she behaves.
The focus is on problem solving, and the goal is to change clients' thought patterns in order to change their responses to difficult situations.Is the treatment that has met with the most success in combating acute stress disorder.Change cognitions or patterns of thought surrounding the traumatic incident.Second, it tries to alter behaviors in anxiety-provoking situations. Changing the way clients think and see the world can change their responses to circumstances.
CBT is rooted in the present, so the therapist will initially ask clients what is going on in their mind at that moment, so as to identify distressing thoughts and feelings. The therapist will then explore whether or not these thoughts and feelings are productive or even valid. The goal of CBT is to get clients actively involved in their own treatment plan so they understand that the way to improve their lives is to adjust their thinking and their approach to everyday situations.
.
Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal therapy focuses on the relationships a person has with others, with a goal of improving the person’s interpersonal skills. In this form of psychotherapy, the therapist helps people evaluate their social interactions and recognize negative patterns, like social isolation or aggression, and ultimately helps them learn strategies for understanding and interacting positively with others.
Motivational Interviewing
This intervention helps people become motivated to change the behaviors that are preventing them from making healthier choices. Research has shown that this intervention works well with individuals who start off unmotivated or unprepared for change. It is less useful for those who are already motivated to change.They may not be ready to commit to change, but motivational interviewing can help them move through the emotional stages of change necessary to find their motivation.
Motivational interviewing is generally short-term counseling that requires just one or two sessions, though it can also be included as an intervention along with other, longer-term therapies.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
The goal of psychodynamic therapy is to recognize negative patterns of behavior and feeling that are rooted in past experiences and resolve them. This type of therapy often uses open-ended questions and free association so that people have the opportunity to discuss whatever is on their minds. The therapist then works with the person to sift through these thoughts and identify unconscious patterns of negative behavior or feelings and how they have been caused or influenced by past experiences and unresolved feelings. By bringing these associations to the person’s attention they can learn to overcome the unhelpful behaviors and feelings which they caused
Psychoanalytic Therapy Childhood
Psychoanalytic (past) therapy is a form of in-depth talk therapy that aims to bring unconscious or deeply buried thoughts and feelings to the conscious mind so that repressed experiences and emotions, often from childhood, can be brought to the surface and examined. Working together, the therapist and client look at how these repressed early memories have affected the client’s thinking, behavior, and relationships in adulthood.
Solution Focused Therapy
Solution focused therapy is a type of talk therapy where the primary focus is on finding solutions to problems.
Systematic Desensitization Technique
Systematic desensitization is a behavioral technique commonly used to treat fear, anxiety disorders and phobias. Using this method, the person is engaged in some type of relaxation exercise and gradually exposed to an anxiety-producing stimulus, like an object or place.
Art therapy
Art therapy is a mental health profession in which clients, facilitated by the art therapist, use art media, the creative process, and the resulting artwork to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem. A goal in art therapy is to improve or restore a client’s functioning and his or her sense of personal well-being.
How it can help....
Supporting ability to cope with medical challenges and hospitalization
Providing an outlet for, and supporting emotional self-expression
Reducing anxiety, pain, and stress
Relaxation and meditation
Fostering positive interaction and communication between patients and their families
Building confidence, self-esteem, and resiliency
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) provides clients with new skills to manage painful emotions and decrease conflict in relationships. DBT specifically focuses on providing therapeutic skills in four key areas. DBT was originally developed to treat borderline personality disorder. DBT skills are thought to have the capability of helping those who wish to improve their ability to regulate emotions, tolerate distress and negative emotion, be mindful and present in the given moment, and communicate and interact effectively with others
Task-Centered Practice Intervention Model
Task-centered practice is a social work technology designed to help clients and practitioners collaborate on specific, measurable, and achievable goals.The task-centered (TC) model is a short-term, problem-solving approach to social work practice. TC helps clients to solve their problems as they define them.
1.) Identify the Target Problem(s)
2.) Set Goals Collaboratively.
3.) Create and Execute a Task-Centered
action Plan.
4.) Evaluate the Results and Assess
remaining Needs.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Insomnia CBT-I
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia has been proven to...
-
Help clients who have taken sleep medication for years
-
Be as effective as pharmacotherapy in the short term, and more effective in the long term
-
Effectively treat the root causes of insomnia, not just the symptoms as medication does
Therapy Pets
Spending time with domestic animals can reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, fatigue and pain for many people.
For people with a mental health condition, research has shown that time with pets reduces anxiety levels more than other recreational activities. Pets also provide a non-judgmental form of interaction that can motivate and encourage people, especially children. Veterans with PTSD have also found therapy pets helpful.