Counseling of Life is fully prepared to provide you with counseling for the following:

Individual Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, also known as counseling, or “talk” therapy, is the treatment of mental and emotional disorders through the use of psychological techniques designed to encourage communication of conflicts and insight into problems, with the goal being relief of symptoms, changes in behavior leading to improved social and vocational functioning, and personality growth. In treating depression, anxiety, panic disorders, grief, addictions, and everyday life events, individual psychotherapy aims to help prepare a plan to create positive changes in one’s life.

Couples Therapy

Relationships are wonderful, but can be very difficult at times. Couples therapy focuses on the past and present problems existing in the relationship. Couples therapy can be helpful in improving communication, strengthening the connection, increase sexual intimacy, and become a healthier couple. All problems, and all changes, involve both individual symptoms (behavior, emotions, conflicts, thought processes) and changes in interpersonal relationships.

Such aspects can contribute to distress in marriages or other relationships:

• Poor communication
• Illness
• Sex
• Pregnancy Concerns
• Infertility
• Infidelity
• Anger
• financial problems
• Death & Bereavement
• Engagement & Marriage
• Divorce & remarriage
• Children leaving for college
• Substance Abuse

With Couples Therapy, you can:

• Start to take control of your life and relationship!
• Stop using anger to communicate and stop having the same fight over and over again!
• Gain a new and rewarding perspective on your relationship!
• Change your communication patters to resolve conflicts easily and have a more satisfying relationship!
• Deeply understand each other and experience warmth, love, and passion again!
• Start to have a deeper connection and intimate lifestyle than ever before!

Family Therapy

Family therapy is very beneficial in order to make changes and develop a more functional and supportive relationship between the family members. Family therapy treatment involves all family members who seek to change the unhealthy familial patterns and interactions; however, many times some family members start individually and then come together. Family systems therapy is utilized to focus on patterns of interaction which maintains the problem. It can also be helpful to identify the cause and eliminate the behaviors. With a family systems approach, it is assumed that the family as a whole is larger than the sum of its parts. Family therapy has been used effectively where families, and or individuals in those families experience or suffer:

• Serious Psychological Disorders
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Addictions
• Eating Disorders
• Marriage & Remarriage
• Divorce
• Death
• Transitional Crises in a Family’s Life Cycle
• Support of Other Psychotherapies and Medication
• Communication Barriers
• Financial Problems
• Health Concerns

The goals of Family Therapy are to help family members:

• Balance and Adapt to Change
• See Emotional Problems
• Have a Minimum Amount of Fusion and Distance
• Develop Communication Skills to Deal with Problems Productively
• Tolerate Differences
• Become Aware of Everyone’s Needs and Wants
• Allow Each Member to Have Their Own Opinions and Beliefs
• Preserve a Positive Emotional Climate
• Members will Use Each Other For Feedback Rather Than Emotional Crutches
• Place the Presenting Problem in a Multigenerational Frame
• Lower Anxiety
• Forming Relationships with the Dysfunctional Member
• Forming Relationships with the Dysfunctional Member
• Evaluating Progress
• Addressing the Power Differential in the Couple

Adolescence

Children

Growing up can be difficult for both parents and children. Stressful times due to pressures in today’s society, personal issues, adjustment to change, relationships, and a variety of other aspects can cause children difficulties finding success in school, and in their peer and family relationships.

Your child may need help if he or she….

• Has trouble concentrating
• Fails to complete tasks
• Talks back
• Fights and has difficulty getting along with others
• Gets in trouble at school often
• Has poor peer relationships
• Fails to accept responsibilities and blames others
• Has no respect for adult authority
• Does not try
• Lacks self confidence
• Has poor grades
• Has poor peer relationships
• Poor eating habits or eating disorder beginning to develop

Through therapy, levels of impairment in social, emotional, psychological and behavioral areas of a child’s life can improve.

Adolescents

Adolescence is a demanding time in our lives. Adolescence is a time when our bodies, mind, thoughts, and society constantly change. Teenagers are challenged with academics, puberty, social issues, emotional and behavioral problems and family conflicts. If an adolescent is experiencing difficult in any areas of life, counseling can be very valuable.

Such problems may include …

• Peer Conflict Resolution
• Anger Management
• Behavioral Problems
• Self-Esteem Issues
• Eating Disorders
• Difficulty with Adjustment
• Relational Difficulties
• Separation Anxiety
• School Refusal
• Abuse Issues
• Traumas
• Difficulty with Social Skills
• Anxiety and Panic Disorders
• Depression
• ADD and ADHD
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Conduct Disorder
• Parent-Child Conflict
• Loss and/or Grief
• Substance Use or Abuse

Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse Counseling is offer to the addictive individuals as well as family members and friends. It is clearly understood that the impact of an addictive problem on one’s life can cause an array of psychological, physical, and social problems. We understand the pain and anguish addictive individuals and their loved ones face due to addictive problems.

Support Groups

Adolescent Children of Alcoholics

A support group designed for adolescents who face alcoholism in their family. This group provides support, understanding, and education on alcoholism.

Women’s Groups

This group provides support, comfort, empowerment, and a network for women. Topics such as: relationships, friendship, family, self-esteem, and our selves are just a few to mention.

Girls Groups

Just for girls! This group provides young women a supportive environment, helps build and increased self esteem, and creates a safe place to help deal with issues and challenges these girls face.

Hypnosis ~ Hypnotherapy
Explanation of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy…

Hypnosis helps change habits. This is a short term treatment method in which the therapist gives soothing visualizations to the client to relax the mind and body into a relaxed trance state. Once in this relaxed state (under hypnosis), blocks to change are bypassed and suggestions for symptom relief or behavioral change are more readily accepted and subsequently acted upon. This is most commonly used for weight loss, pain management, smoking cessation, and performance enhancement. (Weight problems which have been lifelong, and typically involve goals greater than a 20 pound weight loss, are best treated with hypnotherapy).

Hypnotherapy helps by healing. This is a deeper process used with a client who is already in the state of hypnosis. Through guided age regression, the client traces current problems back to their painful source, where unexpressed emotions and self limiting beliefs have remained locked in the mind and body. These locked in feelings negatively affect our perceptions and reactions to life and relationships, especially to triggers that unconsciously remind us of the original painful experience. Through hypnotherapy the client releases, and is released from, the past. There is no further need to self soothe with self destructive behaviors such as binge eating, addictions, or codependant relationships.

Through hypnotherapy, clients can:

• Stop smoking
• Lose weight
• Manage pain
• Reduce IBS symptoms (irritable bowel)
• Stress management
• Anxiety
• Phobias
• Guilt
  
• Stop compulsive behaviors: Gambling, Substance abuse, Internet addiction, Self harm (nail biting, hair pulling, picking), Overeating & bingeing
• Change dysfunctional relationships with yourself and others
• Codependence
• Insomnia
• Increase self esteem
• Enhance creativity and performance

Hypnosis is a state of consciousness in which you feel totally relaxed, yet aware of your surroundings. This is what is referred to as “trance”. It is a very natural state and happens to all of us in our everyday life. It feels similar to daydreaming, or being absorbed in a good book or movie. Your attention is so focused that you become unaware of your surroundings. Highway driving is another example. We’ve all had the experience of going from one exit to another without being consciously aware of what happened in between.
Trance is when part of you is safely navigating while another part of you is focusing on something else.

Common Fears About Hypnosis:

Many people fear being controlled while hypnotized. In reality, the client is in control. Hypnosis cannot happen unless you choose to focus on the relaxation in order to work on pre-arranged goals with the therapist. No one can be forced to do or say anything that goes against their morals or their will. They would just come out of the trance rather than do so. The people you see behaving foolishly onstage are doing so because they want to. They want to entertain an audience and expect these things will occur when a stage hypnotist invites them up. Most importantly, you should work with a licensed therapist with proper credentials, who you can feel safe with. The therapist’s job is to treat your symptoms, help you to feel better, and reach your goals while simultaneously empowering you. Proper credentials means a state license in their professional field.

Scheduling

The consultation is 90 minutes, which allows enough time for me to conduct a comprehensive intake and assessment. Together we establish goals and a treatment plan which can be related to symptoms, issues, problematic behaviors, or feelings. You’ll receive an introduction to the hypnosis process, so that you can begin to experience exactly what it feels like. Hypnotherapy sessions run 1.5 to 2 hours long and regular talk sessions are 45 minutes.

For more information:
American Psychotherapy and Medical Hypnosis Association
Hypnosis Education Center
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
IBS Resources
Chronic Pain Management
Mayo Clinic on Hypnosis
Osteoporosis and Chronic Pain


Relaxation Therapy

Counseling of Life, LLC provides and teaches relaxation therapy and meditation as a way to increase awareness and decrease stress levels. Meditation and Relaxation Therapy are two holistic approaches to healing. Both are simple ways to balance a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.

More and more doctors are prescribing meditation and relaxation therapy as a way to lower blood pressure, improve exercise performance in people with angina, help people with asthma breathe easier, relieve insomnia and generally relax the everyday stresses of life. There are both physical and psychological benefits to incorporate mediation and relaxation into your life.



EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a powerful psychotherapy technique which has been very successful in helping people who suffer from trauma, anxiety, panic attacks, disturbing memories, post traumatic stress and many other emotional problems. EMDR is considered a breakthrough therapy because of its simplicity and the fact that it can bring quick and lasting relief for most types of emotional distress.

The EMDR technique uses a natural function of the body and rapid eye movement. EMDR seems to have a direct effect on the way that the brain processes information. After successful completion of an EMDR session, a person no longer relives the horrible images, sounds, and feelings when the event is brought to mind. You still remember what happened, but it is less upsetting.

After EMDR processing, clients generally report that the emotional distress related to the memory has been eliminated, or greatly decreased, and that they have gained important cognitive insights. Importantly, these emotional and cognitive changes usually result in spontaneous behavioral and personal change, which are further enhanced with standard EMDR procedures.

What Kind Of Problems an EMDR Treat?

• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Panic Attacks
• Complicated Grief
• Dissociative Disorders
• Disturbing Memories
• Phobias
• Pain Disorders
• Eating Disorders
• Performance Anxiety
• Stress Reduction
• Addictions
• Sexual And/Or Physical Abuse
• Body Dysmorphic Disorders
• Personality Disorders

Further Information: http://www.emdr.com/q&a.htm

Telehealth

As per American Counseling Association and American Psychological Association, Telehealth (also known as Telebehavioral health, Telepsychology, or distance counseling), is the use of a digital platform that provides secure, encrypted, audio-video conferencing to communicate with a client in real time. Many professional counselors have found telebehavioral health to be a great addition to their practice and their work with clients, including the ability to reach clients while obstacles may limit or prevent clients from in person counseling. Counseling of Life has incorporated telehealth into our practice to reach clients while obstacles may limit or prevent in person counseling.