In this section...
- Individual counseling
- Group counseling
- Dream group counseling
- Family counseling
- Marriage and couples counseling
Counseling with us can be in one of several different formats; individual (one-on-one) counseling, couples (marriage or pre-marriage) counseling, family counseling, or group counseling. This page is designed to educate you on the different counseling formats so you can make an informed decision to choose which one may be best for you.
Please read over the different counseling services we offer. If you would like more information, please call us or use our contact form to ask us any questions; we are happy to discuss with you any questions or concerns you may have. (Of course any inquiries are kept strictly confidential as you can read in our privacy statement.) If you are interested in beginning counseling sessions but you aren't sure which format would be best for you, please let us know what your goals and needs are and we'll be happy to help you make an informed decision.
Individual counseling
"This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Use your power to make your life happy."
- Susan Polis Schutz
Individual counseling provides the benefit of helping clients better manage symptoms of depression, anxiety, behavior patterns and self-destructive emotions that are negatively affecting the quality of their lives. This often results in returning to prior or improved levels of functioning in their lives and valued roles. These roles may be at work or school, at home as a parent or spouse, in valued relationships or in any other role valued by the client. As a result, clients can experience an increase in a lasting sense of well being and self-efficancy, often having a greater confidence in their ability to resolve future problems of living that are a natural and recurring reality of life.
Groups: Therapeutic and workshops
"What I received from being in group was that I was not so much alone any more. I was in many ways just like other people. What a relief! I became less ashamed and did not need to hide. I experienced being accepted. I received support and was able to give support to others. We were able to share what worked for us and try it out. We even practiced in group. My confidence grew and it showed in my life outside of group. I began to live."
- Anonymous group member
Human change is not an event it is much more a process we learn to become engaged in as a way of life. Change is not something that happens to us. Change is something we do. It requires courage to take the necessary risks. It often requires insight and new awareness. Change requires the ability, courage and skills necessary to see things we have seen a thousand times before, in a new way. It requires becoming responsible for ourselves and having the motivation to do so. It requires the persistence of practicing and applying new ways of thinking and behaving even when uncomfortable to do so.
Groups are often a good place, particularly after having an experience of individual counseling, to practice all of this. Participation in a group can help make permanent the changes that are desired to improve life. In addition, groups are a good place to receive and give the encouragement and support that all human beings need to make changes real and lasting. Read more about group counseling.
Dream groups
"Dream work can be a profound spiritual discipline, as well as a means to psychological self-awareness and creative inspiration and energy."
- Jeremy Taylor
"Our life is composed greatly from dreams, from the unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with action. They must be woven together."
- Anais Nin
"Over twenty years ago, my first wife Pam (she has since died) and I began to share our dreams first thing in the morning during our time of prayer together. Our experience of doing this was helpful to our personal and spiritual growth as well as our growth as a couple. Shortly afterwards, I did a year long practicum in the use of Reality Therapy Techniques. I decided to start a dream group. In the group I utilized some of the counseling techniques from Reality Therapy in order to make the dream analysis more concrete in bringing about change in peoples lives. It worked, and the group was very successful. The group continued to meet for five years and only disbanded after my relocating."
-Roger Fenn, LPCC
Family counseling
"Nobody has ever before asked the nuclear family to live all by itself in a box the way we do. With no relatives, no support, we've put it in an impossible situation."
-Margaret Mead
"When the family collapses, it is the children that are usually damaged. When it happens on a massive scale, the community itself is crippled."
- President Lyndon Johnson
"Love the family, defend and promote it as the basic cell of human society: nurture it as the prime sanctuary of life."
- Pope John Paul II
Most any problem an individual might experience weather it be depression, adolescent behavior problems, anxiety, chronic illness, relationship problems, grief, loss or trauma, can benefit from having the support of a strong functioning family. The family is a powerful influence on each of its members development of self-worth and self-esteem. The relationships formed within our families become the building blocks of how we relate to the world around us. They become the essense of our being and help determine our thoughts and resulting behaviors.
Right relationship in the family can be the source of strength and motivation people need to face every challenge that may come along in life. The family more then any other institution has the ability to shape a persons life by providing them with the attitudes, motivations and behaviors necessary to successfully resolve the difficulties of living.
Marriage and couples counseling
"What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility."
- Leo Tolstoy
"When the family collapses, it is the children that are usually damaged. When it happens on a massive scale, the community itself is crippled."
- President Lyndon Johnson
"Divorce is like an amputation. Sometimes it's necessary but it should be avoided if at all possible because it brings about a permanent disability."
- Bill Doherty
If the family is the foundation of civilization then marriage is the foundation of the family. It requires a strong working relationship between spouses to make a strong functioning family. Often as marriages evolve and change moving from one stage to another the role of spouses change within the family. These changes are often not discussed or negotiated catching a wife or husband by surprise and can become the source of hurt and pain. Sometimes we are not even be aware of the source of this hurt and pain. With support these issues can be discussed, understood and negotiated to provide a more effective and fulfilling relationship which is vital to family life.
Treatment areas
We provide counseling for a variety of different areas including the following:
- Depression (individual or groups)
- Anxiety (individual or groups)
- Panic attacks
- Social anxiety
- Stress management (workshop)
- Relationship difficulties
- Communication and assertiveness skills
- Child and adolescent concerns
- Low self-esteem (workshop)
- Thinking errors and core beliefs
Group counseling
Many people don't realize it, but group counseling is a rewarding, effective, and affordable way to achieve your counseling goals. The group atmosphere provides the confidence and comfort of knowing you are not alone. Even if you're initially more interested in individual counseling, we still encourage you to read more about group counseling to see if it may be a viable option for you.
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional."
-M. Kathleen Casey