Individual and Relational Recovery Counseling

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy assesses and treats the presenting problem in one-on-one counseling, using an electric approach that includes EMDR's Adaptive Information Processing Model, Pia Mellody's Post Induction Therapy for Codependency Model, and processes from psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, experiential, and interpersonal therapies.

Group Therapy

Group therapy uses Pia Mellody's Post Induction Therapy for Codependency model to address core issues, secondary symptoms, and relational problems related to codependency in a group setting that allows individuals to:

• Identify and embrace the reality of their childhood abuse through a written history and debriefing dialog;
• Conceptualize and dialog with their inner child through imagery work to release traumatic imprints on the brain; and
• Revisit the scenes of their childhood wounding by going back in time to confront their childhood abusers with their honest testimony of how the abuse caused shame, pain, and bewilderment.

Couples Therapy

Using Terrence Real's Relational Empowerment Therapy, couples therapy works with couples to provide men and women the insights and tools to recover their connectedness in an anti-relational culture.  This process empowers women to reclaim their assertiveness in an effective and relational way, helps men come up from shame and down from grandiosity and holds them with accountability and love, and provides both individuals with the necessary tools for intimacy.

Trauma

A trauma is an event that has had a lasting negative effect.  When you lose your peace of mind there can be serious physical and psychological consequences.  The mind has an information processing system that, when functioning properly, allows us to learn from negative experiences and move forward.  Sometimes, however, negative experiences can become stuck, and remain unresolved, dominating our daily lives in negative ways.  Eye Movement Reprocessing and Desensitization (EMDR) is used to help the brain process this information properly, extracting useful information from our experiences and letting the rest go.  For more information on EMDR click on the following web site:  http://www.emdr.com/briefdes.htm

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders include post traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, panic disorders, and phobias.  Post traumatic stress disorders are characterized by exposure to a life-threatening experience and subsequent intrusive thoughts of the event and avoidance behaviors.  Panic attacks are discrete periods of intense anxiety and fear.  Panic disorders are recurrent and unexpected panic attacks followed by at least one month of persistent worry about having another attack.  Phobias are a marked and persistent fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation.  EMDR is used to treat anxiety disorders, helping the brain process the initial disturbing experience and the resulting after effects.

Codependency

Childhood trauma, defined as less than nurturing experiences that happened to us in childhood, can cause the following problems of codependency:

1. Core Issues of self esteem (inability to appreciate our inherent worth), boundaries, reality (inability to accept imperfections), dependency (inability to employ good self care), and moderation.
2. Secondary symptoms of depression, anxiety disorders, chemical addictions, problems with spirituality, sex addiction, intensity, money disorders, eating disorders, behavioral addictions, and raging.
3. Relational problems of intimacy, enmeshment, dishonesty, interdependence, love addiction, and love avoidance.