Why is counseling important?

What circumstances prompt the need for professional counseling?

  • life’s traumas
  • experiencing particularly trying times
  • when unable to improve after seeking wisdom of friends, relatives or clergy

People often seek counseling because they are:

  • hurting
  • frustrated
  • feeling overwhelmed by a problem

Many of these circumstances are made worse by wounded relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children. One of those in troubled relationships may already have mood disorders like

  • depression
  • anxiety
  • addictions, or
  • situational stressors – like work or school

Commonly Used Techniques

The goal of counseling will often vary, and experienced counselors will tailor their approaches to their clients’ needs. Different schools of therapy have different end goals. The currently approved form of therapy used in many institutions is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT.)

I have used both CBT and DBT in outpatient, partial and inpatient settings. I have also been working within a Social Work framework that includes familiarity with legal and community resources.

RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE PRINCIPLES – PAC

  • As much as a consumer’s personality allows, I encourage a self-directed, individualized approach
  • Healing, including mind, body, spirit and community begins with my first session assessment
  • My therapy style emphasizes empowerment and recognition of a consumer’s strengths
  • I encourage consumers to develop a network of support, friends, family, community
  • Consumers are responsible for their own self-care and journeys of recovery.

What to Expect from Counseling

Counseling includes:
— completion of an initial intake information
— Discussion about your current issues and concerns
— Referral for medication evaluation and management with psychiatrist or family practice physician

Setting Goals

Professional counseling includes developing a plan for improvement or stability. Professional counselors understand that clients have the right to choose their treatment goals. Therapists can offer some assistance in clarifying and evaluating what the goals should be. Usually, the most effective therapy includes a mutual understanding between the therapist and client about target concerns, frequency of sessions and agreement about therapeutic assignments.

My counseling approach includes asking clients to build their supports and loving relations while at the same time considering growth areas in their faith life. I also attempt to discourage an unhealthy dependency on any therapist or significant others.

Duration of Counseling

A client benefits from having a clear understanding of when therapy should be concluded. The duration of counseling varies greatly depending upon the client’s needs and severity of symptoms. There is no simple answer. The treatment methods the therapist uses, the goals of the person seeking therapy, the symptoms he or she has, and the history of those symptoms will all determine the length of therapy.

Sometimes, when people have nurturing, protective, wise parents and no trauma throughout childhood, therapy will be short. If such is the case, people might come to therapy for a recent trauma, such as a rape, abortion, mugging, or car accident; a loss such as a death, job loss, or divorce; or a dilemma, like being unhappy in a relationship or job. Clients frequently underestimate how much time therapeutic change requires. True change can take years although counseling is not necessarily needed for the whole process.

Many clients choose to limit their therapy sessions by the number of sessions covered by their insurance. Clients should call the Behavioral Health Customer Contact on the back of their insurance card before beginning therapy. On the first day of service, we will assist clients to contact their insurance companies to clarify Behavioral Health benefits.

In office and/or Online Sessions

Gayle can provide online therapy for residents of Pennsylvania. Call for a free phone consultation to find out if you can start counseling today from wherever you are!

ONLINE THERAPY (Behavioral Telehealth) MIGHT BE COVERED BY YOUR INSURANCE! Call your Behavioral Health Customer support number from the back of your insurance card to determine if online counseling is covered by your insurance.

Please visit the Getting Started page for more information, or you can contact Gayle directly, and she will answer any questions or concerns you may have.

 

The KEYSTONE allows an arch to bear weight. A masonry arch cannot self-support until the keystone is placed. Due to the keystone’s position at the top, it experiences the least stress of any of the other stones. Without the keystone, the whole structure would collapse.