Traumatic Experiences, Anxiety, Depression, and Anger:

Do you have intrusive memories of traumatic events, nightmares, anxiety around people or public places, hyper-vigilance for danger, or are you easily agitated and find people more irritating than you used too?  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, from experiencing one or more life-threatening events, can manifest in these and many more debilitating symptoms.  We carefully utilize EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and various calming skills to process through trauma or abuse experiences. We decrease the emotional intensity of those experiences, working towards little or no distress when they are thought about or are triggered. Negative beliefs or ideas about yourself also tend to be left over from trauma, so another goal is to reverse those to the opposite positive self-beliefs. “I’m not good enough” can shift at deep levels to “I am good enough”, or “I don’t deserve to be loved” can change at the core to “I do deserve to be loved”.  Post-traumatic types of symptoms can also occur with emotionally threatening situations, such as childhood experiences of emotional abuse, or relationship wounds and break-ups.  Clearing those traumas can end old self-defeating habits and increase your self-respect and your ability to interact in healthy relationships. The EMDR process is described step-by-step, along with research on it’s uses, at www.EMDR.org and www.EMDRIA.org.

Communication, Conflict Resolution, and Personal issues in Relationships:

While I am not currently working directly with marriage counseling or couples, I do work with individuals on their relationship issues.  Communication and conflict resolution skills can be practiced, and blocks to effective communication addressed.  Anger and resentments can be resolved with empathetic understanding. Often there are past issues to be resolved from each person’s family or past relationships that interfere with the current relationship.  We move away from defend/attack type of communication to effective loving communication. For some this may involve establish clear ground rules and boundaries for their relationship. We address whatever is needed to get your relationship unstuck and progressing forwards.

Spirituality:

Many people find much of their strength, calmness, enthusiasm, and compassion from their spirituality. I invite those who so desire to talk about their own spiritual experiences and strengths. I am here to support your growth process, without interjecting my own beliefs. My background is Christian, yet I am open to all faiths and cultural backgrounds.

Youth 12 years old and up:

I work with youth and adolescents 12 years old and up. Family therapy can be integrated as is fitting to each person and their situation.  Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be used for changing specific behaviors and for improving self-esteem. Adolescents tend to benefit more from techniques and ideas that are practical and applicable in their lives, rather than insight-based therapy. They can practice ways to handle bullying, deal with peer pressures, effectively communicate what they are wanting, and to better manage their moods.  Family meetings can be utilized by families to improve communication in the family as a whole. Family meetings also provide for a group justice approach, making discipline a group decision, and taking much of the pressure off of individual parent-child discipline.  Parenting approaches can also be implemented, including principles from Screamfree Parenting, a best seller by Hal Runkel. It is available on Amazon and Audible, as is Screamfree Marriage.  Clients have said that both books have helped them get it as to why the yelling does not work and why talking calmly does work with children and spouses.