Specialties

• Trauma and Crisis Counseling
• Personal/Interpersonal/Marital Counseling
• Addiction/Abuse Counseling
• Grief and Transition Counseling
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Trauma and Crisis Counseling

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength. -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

You have a car accident and find that it's getting harder to force yourself to get back into the car. People at work are being laid-off and you find yourself increasingly worried about whether your job will be the next to go. You are mugged by a stranger and find yourself unable to leave the house.

Sometimes we snap right back from a trauma. At others times, it pushes us into a state of anxiety and depression.

If you are anxious, you may feel panicky and start avoiding places, people or events that you used to enjoy.

If you are depressed you may feel tired and may not sleep well. You may find yourself snapping at your loved ones, bursting into tears, or losing interest in things you used to care about. It may be hard to concentrate.

Those who are suffering the anxiety and depression associated with trauma may find it particularly difficult to reach out for help. The people around you may be telling you to "put it behind you." You may feel embarrassed by your feelings and reactions.

But studies show that the sooner you get treatment for trauma reactions, the less severe they are likely to become. In some cases, I have found that counseling for trauma and crisis can provide immediate reduction in symptoms. Just having the opportunity to tell someone what's happening to you can be a healing experience.

For those who want to go farther, I work with clients to help them develop skills to manage anxiety and low moods as well as exploring underlying emotional and thought patterns that can lead to longer-term anxiety and depression.

Personal/Interpersonal/Marital Counseling

Change is difficult but often essential to survival. --Les Brown

Sometimes change is not as difficult as you expect. Many people come to counseling because they want to be better people, to live in better relationships, to have better marriages. Some of the healthiest people I know come to counseling to think through career choices, to improve communication skills, to improve good marriages, to gain parenting skills. Others come to address personal and interpersonal problems and crises.

The outcome for many of these clients is more than mere survival. Often clients who have the courage to enter counseling when taking important steps in their lives are the ones who live more fully—have more satisfying careers, marriages, and relationships with their children and parents.

The focus in couples counseling is on the relationship—the dynamics between the couple. It can be effective to combine couples counseling with individual therapy. By doing work both for yourself and for your partner, you create a foundation for love, trust, and fulfillment.

Addiction/Abuse Counseling

If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living. --Anatole France

Whether it is drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, sex, computer games, shopping, or something else.

It may be a problem if:

• you're using it to avoid dealing with problems
• you've stopped being involved with (or are keeping secrets from) your loved ones
• you've lost interest in activities that used to be important to you
• your performance at work or school is suffering
• when you decide to stop or cut back, you don't succeed

It may start as something that seems fun, but if you feel it is diminishing you and your life—by dominating your thoughts and your time, ruining your relationships, and stealing your future—it may be time to seek help. Counseling can help you free yourself from addiction and re-engage in life.

Grief and Transition Counseling

Bereavement is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved. --Iris Murdoch

The death of a loved one or the loss of an important relationship profoundly affects our lives. Major life transitions like getting a promotion or having a child can also leave us with a sense of confusion or loss. People who care about us often don't know what to say. Grief and transition counseling supports and validates our experience and helps us choose how to move into the future.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a treatment method that is useful in learning to:

• regulate emotions
• deal with distressing situations
• improve relationships
• find ways to create a "life worth living"

"Dialectic" refers to a process that explores opposites. It's about increasing our choices. When we are about to behave in a self-destructive way, we often act from habit without taking the time to purposefully say either "yes" or "no" to the impulse to act. DBT offers specific skills—including mindfulness—that help us slow down and choose how we will respond to an emotional situation.

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