Focus on Anxiety Treatment, Depression and Relationships
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent among all the psychological disorders. Anxiety is also versatile, it comes in many forms and effects us all differently. We can get anxious while feeling other similar emotions such as overwhelmed, stressed, obsessional, worried and self-doubt. Living with anxiety is proven to contribute to a decrease in productivity and life goals, as well as an increase in alcohol use. Some Anxiety Disorders include: Obsessional Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder and Social Phobia. Through a cognitive-behavioral and blended approach, we will explore any misguided self-beliefs and re-organize them into healthier adaptive coping mechanisms. For more information on Anxiety, see resources on my website.
Depression
Depression is one of the most debilitating psychological disorders, and effects 13-14 million individuals per year in the US.
Some symptoms of depression include: loss of appetite, decreased or increased sleep habits, negative self thoughts, loss of interest in hobbies or activities, decreased productivity at work and/ or school, overall sadness and at times suicidal thoughts or tendencies. Some experience depression as mild, moderate or major as well as either with predominant moods as lows, highs or a combination. With the use of Cognitive Behavioral therapy, we will explore any repetitive and negative self thinking. We will then We will then correct this maladaptive way of thinking by questioning the validity of the thoughts, distancing from destructive thoughts and being able to identify these emotions and thoughts.
Relationships
Relationships issues can range from mild miscommunications to moderate-severe actions of psychological, emotional, physical or sexual harassment or abuse. Commonly faced by many men and women, relationship issues can contribute to health symptoms such as: pain, fatigue, substance use, gastrointestinal issues, anxiety and depression. Some of the key components that we will address include: self-efficacy, self-advocacy, readiness to change, empowerment, support/resources available and awareness of the present relationship issues.
Career/ Self-Efficacy
The way in which we decide on what career choices to make directly relates to our ability to believe that we can succeed in these goals we are deciding on. When we have negative self-beliefs and unhealthy emotions about ourselves, is when our ability to make healthy career choices decreases. A few of the areas we will explore include: problem-solving skills, career-identity, career choice anxiety, goal instability and vocational self-actualization identity. Through a blended approach, we will explore positive decision-making skills and rational strategies which are geared to generate self and vocational information. We will also explore emotional-behavioral barriers which impede positive career oriented decision making skills.
Trauma
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a chronic condition that is typically acquired through either direct or indirect exposure to extremely stressful stimuli. Most often, this disorder transpires from a recurrent exposure to these negative, stressful or even abusive experiences. Some of the symptoms that are common to experience include: intrusive thoughts, impaired memory, irritability, dissociation, sadness, confusion, hyper-alertness and decreased sleep. After we have identified the trauma exposure, we will first begin to explore how feelings of shame, guilt, fear and helplessness effect your everyday life. Depending on the individual, a range of treatment will be applied including: Cognitive based treatment, exposure therapy, relaxation based therapy and expressive therapy.
Child & Adolescent Therapy
Children and teens can face many obstacles as apart of the developmental process. Sometimes these include: anger, irritability, inattention, opposition and even aggression. Other times, external factors can play a part in emotional dysregulation such as: sibling rivalry, divorce, school troubles or identity issues. In child/ adolescent therapy, we will identity first the behaviors that accompany the negative emotions. Some of these include issues involving the internet, food, lying and bedtime/ morning routines. Through family and individual therapy, we will explore biological, environmental and social risk factors which have led to these behaviors, and then establishing more positive associations to help reduce these behaviors.