Couples Counseling

Couples counseling can help partners navigate difficult issues including infidelity, abuse, family stressors. Together, couples learn to explore the issues related to their current situation. Often, couples will also learn new methods of communication in order to help increase their understanding of one another.

Parenting

Parents sometimes feel helpless when it comes to responding to their child’s challenging behavior. Learning specific parenting methods provides parents with tools to address behavioral problems in order to decrease chaos at home.

Eating Disorders

An eating disorder, such as bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge-eating, can be detrimental to a person’s health and quality of life. Additionally, preoccupation with weight and body shape often goes hand-in-hand with an eating disorder. Healing from any issues that led to an eating disorder can be helpful in learning to be more comfortable with food and improve one’s body image.

Substance Abuse

Addiction to alcohol and drugs can lead to difficulties at work, school, and can put strain on relationships. Learning new ways to cope with emotional pain can help to decrease the use of substances and improve quality of life.

Depression

While we can all feel “blue” every now and then, it is not normal for these feelings to persist. Depression is a mood disorder that can leave you feeling very sad, hopeless and lacking energy. These feelings can be difficult to tolerate and may lead to a decrease in a person's ability to fulfill their daily activities and responsibilities.

Grief

Grief is a normal reaction to a loss, whether it is the death of a loved one, a divorce, or the loss of a job. Each person experiences grief differently; some experience all or only some of the stages of grief. If a person experiences grief for a prolonged period of time, about one year, this is considered complicated grief and must be addressed so that the person may learn methods of coping with their loss.

Academic Difficulties

Students of all ages may struggle at times with academic performance as a result of a variety of reasons. For example, these reasons may be related to motivation, time management, or difficulty with attention.

Anxiety

The emotional and physical symptoms of anxiety can be quite uncomfortable and may interfere with daily life. Depending on the circumstances, anxiety may be a normal reaction to a life event or may reach the level of an anxiety disorder.

Trauma

Trauma may come as a result of an extremely frightening and stressful life event, such as abuse or an accident, that makes a person feel vulnerable and helpless. The thing about trauma is that the symptoms the person experiences are completely normal reactions to an abnormal event. If a person experiences symptoms of trauma for a prolonged amount of time, he or she may have symptoms of a disorder such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Foster Care/Adoption

Foster care or adoption is a major life transition for both the child and the parent. There may be many ups and downs during this transition and various decisions to navigate as a family. Getting to know one another, adjusting to house rules and structure, and being involved in the court system may be stressful for children and parents alike.

Relationships

To have relationships with those around us and to feel a sense of belonging is a basic human need. Sometimes, relationships may become complicated due to a variety of reasons. When we experience difficulty in any of our relationships, this may create stress in our daily lives.

Self Esteem

Self esteem is a person's belief about himself or herself. If a person has low self esteem, he or she most likely experiences negative self-talk and has a poor opinion of himself or herself. Low self esteem may be detrimental to a person's ability to achieve higher success in life.

Bipolar Disorder

There are different subtypes of Bipolar Disorder. However, the typical features of Bipolar Disorder include swings in mood from manic episodes to depression. These changes in mood may occur throughout the day or over the course of several months.

Stress

Everyone experiences stress at multiple times throughout life. At some point, stress may feel like too much to handle. If a person feels too stressed in one area of life, it can quickly make it more difficult to cope with stress in other areas of his or her life.

Teenage Difficulties

Being a teenager can be a challenging time; they are no longer young children but are not yet adults. Physical changes, peer relationships, family relationships, and academic responsibilities can be a lot for a teenager to juggle. Sometimes, stress in any of these areas may cause a teenager to act in ways that may make problems worse. The reason for this is that they may not have developed healthy coping skills yet or have the ability to effectively problem solve to improve their situation.

Self-Harm

Self-harm involves a person intentionally inflicting harm on his or her body. Often, a person self-harms as a method of coping with intense and troublesome feelings. Afterward, the individual may feel some sense of relief. However, feelings of shame and guilt may ensue for some. Self-harm is often associated with other difficulties, such as depression.

Survivor of Sexual Abuse

A person who experienced sexual abuse at some point in his or her lifetime may have a variety of intense feelings related to the abuse. Additionally, he or she may feel afraid to speak with anyone about the abuse due to being fearful of the perpetrator finding out or being worried about what others will think of him or her. These feelings may lead to difficulty feeling secure with those around them and developing trusting relationships.