Major Life Changes
When people experience major changes in their life circumstances such as loss, change in employment, divorce, or death; it is common for them to experience a great deal of stress, worry, grief and sadness. Unexpected negative events can be incredibly disruptive and upsetting. Most people require additional support during these stressful periods of time.
Though emotionally challenging, these experiences can also provide opportunities for personal growth and building strength. I utilize a variety of coping skills taken from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy to help clients to effectively navigate adverse situations. My goal is to provide clients with the tools they need to cope with difficult situations. After mastering these skills, clients will often report feeling more confident in being able to tackle whatever challenges may come their way in the future
Depression
Depression can feel like a dark cloud has settled over you. Isolation, hopelessness, excessive guilt, negative thoughts, a down mood, lack of motivation, and difficulty concentrating are common symptoms. People struggling with depression will often say that they do not feel like themselves. It can feel like a vicious cycle that is hard to break.
Luckily, there are treatments that can help. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness-Based treatments have strong research support for helping people with depression to feel better and start to take charge of their lives again. I use a tailored approach to treatment based on the client’s presenting symptoms and life circumstances. I often combine skills from these and other therapeutic approaches to create a treatment plan that will give the client the tools they need to feel better quickly.
I understand the social stigmas that come with the label of being depressed and thus I aim to help clients sort out their environmental, biological and circumstantial factors while offering support and care.
Anxiety
Those who struggle with anxiety are plagued with fears and worries that feel uncontrollable. Anxious thoughts can feel overwhelming and crippling at times. The symptoms of anxiety themselves, nervousness, rapid breathing, trembling or shaking, difficulty sleeping, and trouble concentrating, are uncomfortable and distressing.
When it comes to treating anxiety disorders, research shows that therapy is usually the most effective option. That’s because anxiety therapy – as opposed to anxiety medication – treats more than just symptoms to the problem.
Therapy can help to uncover the underlying causes of your worries and fears, learn how to relax, look at situations in a new, less frightening way, and develop better coping mechanisms and problem-solving skills.