Whether you are struggling with co-dependency, boundary problems, conflict, or loneliness, relationships can be difficult and stressful. Most of us desire safe and fulfilling relationships but sometimes we don’t know how to get there. Counseling can help by exploring patterns, learning tools, and building the confidence to relate to others in a way that brings healing and freedom.

Anxiety creates overwhelming thoughts and feelings that can permeate every part of life. Sometimes it is hard to articulate the fears or concerns that come up and it is common to feel misunderstood or alone. Feeling lost about how to control stress or make anxiety stop can be very discouraging. Through counseling, it is possible to piece together the experiences, thoughts, and reactions that contribute to anxiety cycles and learn new ways to relate to the experience of stress. Over time, responding to anxiety differently can result in a newfound capacity to face challenges with confidence and experience peace or enjoyment in daily life.

Life experiences can leave a mark and when this happens, it can be difficult to function in many ways. Trauma can include significant moments of pain or loss, sometimes resulting in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Trauma also can be caused by repeated negative experiences or chronic negative feelings in day-to-day life for a long period of time, resulting in complex trauma. The brain and nervous system can learn to react to everyday experiences through the lens of the trauma, limiting one’s capacity to relate to others or to thrive in a variety of contexts. Counseling can help by applying tools to unlearn trauma responses and engage in life more fully.

Losing a loved one is one of the most painful journeys in the human experience and receiving support after a loss is crucial. A grief response is not limited to the loss of a person; any life change or transition will produce challenging feelings as you face the loss and adjust to a new normal. Grief is heavy, but through counseling you can find relief and experience hope and joy for the future.

Symptoms of depression include feeling low and struggling to have the motivation to do daily tasks or even activities you would normally enjoy. The lack of energy and lack of motivation also make it that much harder to do the things that bring joy. Depression can be mild or debilitating. Either way, counseling can help you explore the complex layers of what contributes to depressive symptoms and the strategies that will help you move towards feeling like yourself again.

Your relationship with yourself or how you view yourself can be complex and shaped by experiences, relationships, and messages you received throughout your life. When self-esteem is low, it can contribute to anxiety, depression, and relationship problems. It is possible to improve self-esteem by exploring the beliefs and experiences that have negatively impacted your view of self and learning to form a realistic but positive perspective of your individual strengths and challenges.

Whether you have been married for a long time or are about to start your journey as a couple, exploring differences or conflicts in a safe space can provide valuable insight and helpful communication tools to positively shape your relationship. Counseling can help couples understand repetitive breakdowns in communication and improve intimacy through meeting one another’s needs more effectively.
If you are soon to be married, counseling can be an invaluable means to start your marriage with confidence. In premarital counseling, couples explore topics sometimes avoided and lay groundwork for a firm marriage foundation built on shared understanding and perspective-taking. Pre-marital counseling teaches powerful communication tools to navigate differences more effectively.

Culture shapes perspective, experience, and relationships in many ways. Whether your culture differs from mainstream culture, you struggle to relate to your parent’s culture, or you struggle to fit into any particular culture based on your background, it is important to explore the significance of cultural impact in therapy. If you consider yourself a Third Culture Kid or have moved around frequently during your life, putting cultural context to your experiences can shed light on what contributes to who you are today or who you would like to become.

Christian Counseling is available upon request. I use a holistic approach including addressing the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of what you are going through. Individuals from all faiths and spiritual backgrounds are welcome to include spirituality in your counseling experience if this is important to you. If you have a Christian worldview or value system, my training includes how to integrate Christian faith with current evidence based treatment. When facing difficult life circumstances, loss, or disappointment, understanding what you are experiencing through God’s lens can be a journey. It can be confusing to make sense of how challenging symptoms like anxiety or depression line up with the Biblical truth you know and believe. Trauma or other mental health challenges can make God seem distant and cause feelings of isolation or distress, particularly if your experience does not match what you have been taught about what life as a follower of Christ should look like. The goal of Chrisitan Counseling is to explore how your relationship with God can be a resource in your journey of healing.