New Legacy Counseling

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then individual therapy could be the solution you’ve been seeking. Individual therapy differs from group or alternative therapy methods in the way that you are the sole focus of a single therapist who helps you develop and achieve your goals for therapy.

Individual therapy offers more control over the pacing of your therapy, the methods used, the amount of analysis or feedback you can receive, and the timing of your sessions. If you’ve been feeling hopeless or lost lately, or struggling with a problem in your life that feels insurmountable, individual therapy could help you improve your everyday life.

So if any of these sound like you…

• You keep worrying about the same problem over and over
• You don’t know who you could ever trust with knowing about your secret struggle
• You wish there was somebody who could tell you why you feel this way
• Other areas of your life are being negatively impacted by your struggle
• You’re interested in therapy, but not sure how it could fit into your life

…Then individual therapy could be right for you.

If you’re looking for help improving your everyday life – or for a more tailored therapy experience – you would be a great fit for our individual therapy services. Please reach out to me today for an assessment for individual therapy or to schedule your first appointment.

Free 15-minute consultation

While it’s great to have so many available resources to find a therapist, trying to find the right therapist for you can feel really overwhelming. And finding the right fit matters! I offer a free 15-minute consultation (in person or by phone) so you can get a sense of whether we’re a good match. During this time, we can talk about what you would like to get out of therapy, my approach, and whether my style resonates with you.

Is anxiety taking over your life?

Does it feel like you can’t control it no matter how hard you try? Have you already tried therapy but found it ineffective?

If this sounds like you, I’m confident I can help. My practice offers the most effective forms of treatment, to get the relief from anxiety that you deserve.

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.

Often, these are the symptoms of anxiety:

• Nervousness, restlessness or being tense
• Feelings of danger, panic or dread
• Rapid breathing or hyperventilation
• Increased or heavy sweating
• Trembling or muscle twitching
• Weakness or lethargy
• Difficulty focusing or thinking clearly about anything other than the thing you’re worried about
• Insomnia
• Obsessions about certain ideas, a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Anxiety surrounding a particular life event or experience that has occurred in the past, a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder

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.

If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, I invite you to contact me today for a free consultation.

Most people will experience trauma in their lifetime whether it’s a car accident, abuse or neglect, the sudden death of a loved one, a violent criminal act, exposure to the violence of war, or a natural disaster.

While many people can recover from trauma over time with the love and support of family and friends and bounce back with resiliency, others may discover effects of lasting trauma, which can cause a person to live with deep emotional pain, fear, confusion, or posttraumatic stress far after the event has passed.

In these circumstances, the support, guidance and assistance of a therapist is fundamental to healing from trauma.

Trauma Symptoms
According to the four types of symptoms listed in the DSM-5

Avoidance Symptoms

• Avoiding specific locations, sights, situations, and sounds that serve as reminders of the event
• Anxiety, depression, numbness, or guilt

Re-experiencing Symptoms

• Intrusive thoughts, nightmares or flashbacks

Hyperarousal Symptoms

• Anger, irritability and hypervigilance
• Aggressive, reckless behavior, including self-harm
• Sleep disturbances

Negative Mood and Cognition Symptoms

• Loss of interest in activities that were once considered enjoyable
• Difficulty remembering details of the distressing event
• Change in habits or behavior since the trauma

Research has proven psychotherapy to be the most effective form of treatment for trauma. Most commonly, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) are used in treating trauma.

If you or someone you know match the trauma symptoms listed above, I am confident that I can help and invite you to contact me today for a free consultation.

What is EMDR Therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from different treatment approaches.

How does EMDR work?

EMDR therapy is an integrative psychotherapy and uses a technique called bilateral stimulation to repeatedly activate opposite sides of the brain. Therapists often use eye movements to facilitate the bilateral stimulation. These eye movements mimic the period of sleep referred to as rapid eye movement or REM sleep, and this portion of sleep is frequently considered to be the time when the mind processes the recent events in the person’s life.

EMDR seems to help the brain reprocess the trapped memories in such a way that normal information processing is resumed. Therapists often use EMDR to help clients uncover and process beliefs that developed as the result of relational traumas or childhood abuse and/or neglect. For a more detailed explanation please visit EMDR Institute, Inc.

What does EMDR help?

EMDR had been originally established as helpful for PTSD, although it’s been proven useful for treatment in the following conditions:

• Panic Attacks
• Complicated Grief
• Dissociative Orders
• Disturbing Memories
• Phobias
• Pain Disorders
• Performance Anxiety
• Addictions
• Stress Reduction
• Sexual and/or Physical Abuse
• Body Dysmorphic Disorders
• Personality Disorders

None of the above symptoms or experiences fit you?

Do you experience distressing emotions that appear to you, and perhaps to others, to be excessive given the current situation? Do you tend to be highly reactive to certain triggers? Is there one or more dysfunctional belief that you believe about yourself that on an intellectual level you know is not true?

If so, you may still be a good candidate for EMDR therapy.

Contact me today for a free phone consultation to see if EMDR might help you release what no longer serves you.

Bereavement and grief aren’t light-hearted topics.

Bereavement refers to the process of recovering from the death of a loved one, and grief is a reaction for any form of loss. Both encompass a wide range of emotions such as fear, anger and deep, deep sadness.

The process of adapting to a loss can dramatically change from person to person, depending on his or her background, beliefs, relationship to the person who’s passed, and other factors.

Common symptoms of grief can be physical, emotional or social.

A few common symptoms in these categories are:

Physical

• Crying and sighing
• Headaches
• Loss of appetite
• Difficulty sleeping
• Weakness
• Fatigue

Emotional

• Feelings of sadness and yearning
• Feelings of worry or anger
• Feelings of frustration or guilt

Social

• Feeling detached from others
• Self-isolation from social contact
• Behaving in ways that are not normal for you

Every grieving experience is different. A person may be able to continue their day-to-day routine after one loss, yet not be able to get out of bed after the loss of someone else. Whatever your personal symptoms are, grief and bereavement counseling have been proven to help.

If you are experiencing grief-related thoughts, behaviors, or feelings that are distressing, please contact me today for a free consultation

Are you struggling to cope with the loss of your beloved companion?

Has your pet been diagnosed with a terminal illness?

Has the loss of your pet caused you to feel lonely, anxious or depressed?

For many pet owners, our pets are much more than companions: they’re family. Losing a pet can make you feel overwhelmed with painful emotions. You might feel like there’s a piece of you missing that you’ll never get back; you don’t know how to move forward, but you know you can’t stay in this moment of grief forever.

If this sounds like you:

• You feel lonely or depressed due to the loss of your pet
• You can’t seem to cope with the finality of losing your beloved companion
• You feel guilty or anxious about having to euthanize your pet, or about the circumstances surrounding their illness or death
• Certain activities or particular areas of your home are a constant and painful reminder of your loss
• You want to find a way to move past the sorrow and grief so you can remember your pet with fondness and love

… Then one-on-one therapy with a licensed mental health professional can help. In a safe and relaxing environment, a therapist can help you cope with the heavy emotional burden of losing a pet. Discussing your loss and learning coping strategies for dealing with your grief can help you go through the grieving process and move forward.

How long it takes to grieve the loss of your pet is entirely personal. Don’t try to hurry the process, but at the same time, do not prolong it. Remember that the amount of time spent in mourning is not a measure of how much you loved the one you lost.

If you’re struggling to cope with the loss of a pet, together we can get you through this difficult time and help you find healing along the way.

Let’s schedule a time to talk.

Have you experienced a traumatic event?

Are you suffering from lingering fear and anxiety? Do you feel like you no longer have any control over how you think, feel and behave?
Posttraumatic stress disorder – also known as PTSD – is a mental health challenge that may occur in individuals who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a terrorist act, an act of war, a serious accident, rape, or any other violent personal assault.

It is believed that PTSD affects nearly four percent of the U.S. adult population. While it is usually linked with veterans who’ve experienced combat, PTSD occurs in all people regardless of age, gender, race, nationality or culture.

What are the Symptoms of PTSD?

People with PTSD often experience intense thoughts and feelings related to their traumatic experiences. These can last for a long time after the initial event. Many people with PTSD also relive the event through flashbacks and nightmares.

People with PTSD often feel intense emotions such as fear, anger, sadness and a detachment from friends, family and community members. They often avoid people and situations that remind them of the traumatic event. Ordinary sounds or incidents such as a door banging or accidental touch in a crowd may cause a strong and uncontrollable reaction.

How Can Treatment Help?

There are a variety of treatments that can be used to treat PTSD. However, there are three specific techniques that are consistently gaining research-based evidence of their effectiveness in successfully treating PTSD.

Cognitive Processing Therapy – This modality focuses on how a person perceives a traumatic event and processes it. A therapist can help their client work through stuck points, which are certain thoughts related to the trauma that prevent the person from recovering.

EMDR – EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. This technique uses bilateral sensory input such as side-to-side eye movements to stimulate the brain to process difficult thoughts, memories and emotions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – CBT is a form of talk therapy that focuses on how thoughts, feelings and behaviors are related to one another. The goal of a CBT therapist is to help a client with PTSD return to a place of hope with a greater sense of being in control of their thoughts and behaviors.

If you or a loved one suffer with PTSD and would like to explore treatment options, please reach out to us. We have personally seen amazing transformation through therapy and want to offer the help you need to enjoy life again.

Are you feeling hopeless, isolated and not your usual self?

Do these thoughts often enter your mind?

• I am worthless and can’t do anything about it.
• I feel guilty for just wanting to eat, sleep and be alone.
• I hate who I am these days.
• I can’t stop crying, which makes me want to stay away from others.
• I feel gut wrenching pain, but no one understands.
• My life and the world around me are dark. I hate it, but I can’t change it.

If you have had any variation of these thoughts and don’t feel like your usual self, chances are you may be suffering from depression.

I want you to know that you are not alone and there are people who can help. Many of my clients find relief in realizing that their struggle does not own them and that there are many options available to once again have hope for their lives.

I understand the social stigmas that come with label of being depressed, and thus aim to help clients sort out their environmental, biological and circumstantial factors while offering support and care through a very dark time in their lives.

If you are hoping to finally lighten this load and feel like yourself again, contact me today for a free consultation.