Treatment Approaches at Every Step Forward Counseling
During the Journey
As a counselor, I will meet you where you are at and help you to plot a path of steps forward. We don’t go anywhere that you’re not ready to go, and I’ll be with you as long as your journey takes.
As we’re mapping things out, we talk about your history and what has brought you here. We look at the present to add any skills that you need to get you and keep you stable throughout the day. We'll explore how your past has affected your present, too.
Some ways I can help you grow in the present include:
Teaching you about boundaries and how to set them
Learning relaxation skills and self-care
Feeling better about being kind to yourself
Exploring healthy communication skills
Guiding you to take a look at your emotions and reactions from a third-person perspective
Developing the skill to live in the moment instead of worrying about the future
Broadening your ability to be more comfortable with your emotions
Increasing your awareness of your "blinders" that are holding you back
And, of course, we look just briefly into the future – your goals and how you’d like your life to be different.
And, only when you are ready, then we approach the trauma. Together.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is paying attention to something, in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. - Kabat-Zinn (2003)
In my practice, I use a mindfulness-based approach to help you learn to pay attention on purpose and be more in the present moment instead of lost in thoughts, strong feelings, or stress. It may seem confusing or even mystical, but mindfulness is a practice significantly supported by research to help with managing reactions, changing behaviors, and decreasing anxiety, depression, and distress. Curious? Click here to learn about a few mindfulness skills, including a few skills I can help you develop.
Parts Work
I use elements of Internal Family Systems (IFS) - also called parts work - in my practice. IFS says that we all have different parts within our minds. I use this approach, usually in combination with EMDR, to help you reconnect with parts of yourself that you don’t like so much right now and heal parts of yourself that were wounded when you were young.
It may sound a little off-putting, but if you’ve ever said “a part of me wants to…” or something similar, you know how it feels to be conflicted between two parts of yourself. If you want to learn more, visit the IFS Institute’s website here or check out this book.
I’m a trauma-informed counselor.
This means that I have specific training in treating trauma and understand how the impact of trauma is different.
I am trained in three trauma therapies that are all evidenced based (meaning that their effectiveness is backed up by research and science).
Click the links below to learn more about trauma treatment approaches at Every Step Forward Counseling:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
