Every person has a unique blend of strengths and struggles. Unfortunately, at times, the positives in our lives get overshadowed or overwhelmed by the difficulties.

Sometimes we experience anxiety, depression, too much chronic stress, or insomnia without necessarily knowing what’s causing it. Other times we go through a traumatizing event or have been through numerous traumas and are having a hard time coping and moving on. In some cases, we may think about things differently (ADHD) or experience a chronic condition (fibromyalgia or chronic pain) and need to know how to manage and cope.

Thankfully, you don’t have to continue struggling this way. I love being able to help people work through these difficulties so that they can enjoy their life in a more meaningful way and feel more like their true selves again. While I use evidence-based counselling (such as CBT, EMDR, Somatic Therapy and Positive Psychology), it is important to find the right therapy for what you’re needing and since people are unique in their personalities and life experiences, I don’t use a “one size fits all” approach.

If you are curious to find out how counseling could help click the “appointment request” for a FREE consultation call!

EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) is a type of therapy useful in the treatment of a variety of trauma and stress disorders as well as with phobias as a short-term type of exposure therapy.

EMDR “rewires” your brain to remove the emotionality of the trauma experience and replace this with a more factual account so that details of the event or experience can be recalled without emotional distress.

The therapy was first discovered and researched by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the 1980s. She came to notice that when particular repetitive eye movements were done while thinking about something distressing that the intensity of the distress would be reduced. Her work evolved from what she noticed as natural inclinations to intentionally produced bi-lateral stimulation, that could include eye movement, but also functioned in the same way using any type of bilateral sensory experience.

EMDR is based on the adaptive information processing model that holds the idea that negative thoughts and feelings are due to unprocessed memories and associated emotions held in the limbic system in raw sensory form and that once processed these memories and emotions can be understood based on the facts of the situation without the emotional attachment which causes the distress.

Patients report starting EMDR with a low sense of self and may be anxious, angry or sad due to feelings of hopelessness and a loss of control over the traumatic event. After EMDR therapy patients report a greater sense of control and higher self-worth, as well as a more calm and settled response about the original event(s).

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a type of behaviour therapy that focuses on helping people understand how thoughts, beliefs and feelings can create unhelpful behaviour patterns and how these patterns can be changed.

At its core, CBT asks a person to problem-solve by considering how their perception of an event determines thoughts and feelings and influences behaviour.  CBT also helps people differentiate between subjective interpretation and objective observation.

CBT uses Cognitive Restructuring to explore and deconstruct unhelpful thoughts and reconstruct new ones that are more balanced and true. There are a variety of techniques that can be used that include:

• Breathwork
• EMDR
• Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP)
• Journalling
• Motivational Interviewing
• Somatic awareness

CBT has been demonstrated effective for helping people with:

• Anxiety
• Panic
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD)
• Depersonalization and Derealization
• Depression
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Chronic Pain
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Negative Thinking and Feeling Patterns
• Somatic Disorders

If you or someone you know would benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy, I invite you to get in touch with me so that we can discuss how this type of therapy could be of benefit.

The term “breathwork” is a general term which encompasses much more than simply “deep breathing,” but is used to refer to any type of therapy which uses breath to improve mental, physical and spiritual health.

A goal of breathwork is to facilitate self-awareness and improve the capacity for self-healing.

There are different types of breathwork protocols and breathing exercises which can be used in conjunction with other types of therapy.

Breathwork therapy is thought to positively affect the following concerns:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Chronic Pain
• PTSD/Anger
• Grief
• Mental Distress due to Physical Health Issues

I encourage you to reach out if you are interested in how including breathwork as a part of therapy may help calm symptoms and allow you to feel better.

Somatic therapy is an approach to treatment that focuses on the mind-body relationship in order to improve mental health and wellness.

Somatic therapy may include grounding, boundary work, movement, titration and self-regulation. In addition to talk-type therapy, somatic therapy may include suggestions for yoga, meditation, dietary adjustments, exercise, Reiki, cranio sacral therapy and others.

Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach that helps people to be better attuned to the interplay between mental health struggles and physical experience. Mindful awareness of physical sensations along with how the nervous system engages to create either an alarmed fight-flight-freeze or a calm rest-digest response is a key component in somatic therapy.

Somatic therapy can help with…

• PTSD/Trauma
• Anxiety
• Depression
• ADHD
• Grief/Loss
• Addiction Recovery

If you are curious about how somatic therapy could help contact me for a FREE consultation phone call!

Telehealth or “online counseling” helps to address some of the roadblocks that get in the way of starting or continuing counseling.

Maybe mental health support is limited where you live, maybe your schedule doesn’t allow you to make it for an in-office session, or maybe you can’t find anyone who specializes in the issues you are dealing with. Online counseling offers a solution.

Telehealth itself is similar to in-person counseling except that it provides the convenience of doing sessions without all the legwork of getting to a physical office. Instead, sessions are facilitated over a secure video-conference platform and you can participate from home, school, work, vacation and more.

In addition, you get the added benefit of working with a therapist who is the best fit for you even if they aren’t located nearby. As a clinician licensed in Montana, I am able to offer services to clients located anywhere in the state. All you need is a smartphone or laptop/computer/tablet with a video camera, audio/microphone capabilities, and internet access.

I use Doxy.me to provide HIPAA compliant telehealth service. If you choose teletherapy I cannot guarantee the same privacy as I can for in-person settings. I offer teletherapy from my office, but confidentiality may depend upon where you choose to have the session.

When you verify your insurance coverage be sure and inquire about telehealth coverage for behavioural health. Most of the large companies have continued to offer this since Covid-19.

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