Do you sometimes worry so much, that you yourself struggle with daily activities or are just plain uneasy? Or do you feel so down that you feel like your head is in a fog or lack pleasure in activities you used to enjoy? Do you often experience these or similar feelings together? Depression and Anxiety can be opposite sides of the same coin. Feeling depressed often makes us anxious, and experiencing high anxiety often leads to depressive states. This may look like irrational worries, physical symptoms, difficulty with sleep, loss of interest in life, inability to relax, panic attacks, changes in appetite, as well as many more. Life is tough! Change and life transitions often feel as if your world is being uprooted, sometimes we aren’t prepared and don’t know how to manage. I am here to let you know, you are not alone! If this is you, the time is now to put yourself first and make a change, you deserve it!
Trauma is an emotional and psychological response to an event, and there are three different types. Acute trauma results from a single incident. Chronic trauma, which is repeated and prolonged. Lastly, complex trauma, which is exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events, often invasive and interpersonal in nature. If you're asking yourself, have I experienced trauma? Yes, everyone has or will experience a traumatic or painful event at least once throughout their life. The experience of trauma is completely subjective and impacts us all differently. Trauma can bring a variety of uncomfortable symptoms that negatively impact one's life. Are you living with trauma that is keeping you stuck and feeling lost? We all deserve a safe, supportive space to process and learn how to move forward in a healthy way.
Quite often, women and men experience mental health symptoms during the perinatal and postpartum periods, when parents are experiencing the stress of a major life change. Although “postpartum” depression is a more recognized language, the term “perinatal” is more inclusive for the journey for women and men as both experience symptoms.
Women of every culture, age, race, and socioeconomic status can develop perinatal mood disorders, as well as birth trauma which can leave them feeling powerless, guilty, and experiencing symptoms that negatively impact daily functioning and relationships. Have you or are you experiencing depression or anxiety during pregnancy or postpartum? Are you experiencing intrusive thoughts and/or compulsions around your pregnancy or child? If you are, please know this is more common than you might realize. You are not alone!
Women who choose to be gestational carriers or surrogates are strong and selfless! Still, as a prospective gestational carrier, you are required to complete a thorough clinical screening process before beginning the journey. This process is in place to ensure you are prepared for the journey ahead. The clinical screening process includes personality and pathology assessments, a background check, and an interview conducted in person or via skype. The interview will consist of a series of questions about you, how you plan on pursuing certain aspects of the surrogacy journey to include reasons for wanting to be a carrier, your support systems, who you would like to carry for, and other important medical decisions. As you're reading this, it may seem intimidating at first, a lot of women feel this way in the beginning. As a four time gestational carrier myself, and an experienced clinical professional in this arena, I look forward to helping you start your journey the right way.
Eating disorders affect up to 5% of the population, most often developing in the adolescence and young adulthood years. Several, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are more common in women, but they can all occur at any age and affect any gender. Eating disorders are often associated with preoccupations with food, weight or shape or with anxiety about eating or the consequences of eating certain foods. Some even engage in restrictive eating or avoidance of certain foods, binge eating, purging by vomiting or laxative misuse or compulsive exercise. These behaviors can become driven in ways that appear similar to an addiction. I am here to help you process and move forward in a healthy and holistic way. You’re not alone.
Grief is a natural response to loss. Grief is a journey, not a moment in time. It takes time to heal, and the beauty is that you get to choose how to define the journey for yourself. Grief and loss can encompass more than the death of a person. We grieve the loss of jobs, identities, roles, relationships, and more. Grief will often bring intense and enduring feelings that may be challenging and overwhelming to live in. Chronic, delayed, or unresolved grief can become complicated, leading to ongoing symptoms that can negatively impact your daily function. Is this you? Would you like to discover how to move forward and heal with the losses in your life? You deserve the opportunity to start your journey of grieving and mourning in a way that is tailored to your needs.
Substance use can affect many areas in your life such as finances, relationships, family, work, school, hobbies, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Do you feel like any of these areas in your life are being negatively impacted by substance use? Or maybe you aren’t sure. Making the kind of life change it takes to overcome conflict with substances is not a one time event, it’s a journey. For a lot of people, the journey begins even before they start thinking about changing. And to succeed in changing, the journey goes on long after the initial change happens. It can be helpful to think of your journey as a series of steps. The journey is different for each person, wherever you find yourself, today can be a starting point. I will meet you where you’re at, and support you throughout recovery.
Every couple endures some sort of conflict at some point in their lives, whether it's small or large. Anytime you have two humans in a committed relationship, there will be conflict! For some, hot topics can be finances or even co-parenting, especially in blended families; for others it's a lack of emotional or physical intimacy, or the growing mountain of hurtful arguments. Those are just a few examples of common clashes. I’m sure reading this you are identifying a few of your own, and the recent pandemic has added yet another layer of complexity. Couples therapy can be useful, providing a safe space for both individuals to be validated, learning that conflict doesn't necessarily have to be negative, and developing ways to build or improve understanding. Couples therapy is not about pointing blame! It is about restoring, re-discovering, re-defining, and building an empathy bridge to one another.
Infertility counseling can be useful to support individuals and couples with the challenging emotions that arise when building a family. Women and men tend to cope differently which can create conflict, and a major goal of infertility counseling is to assist couples in understanding their different reactions and cope with the infertility in a supportive and compassionate way. My role as your therapist will be to assist you in developing more efficient ways of addressing the unique issues infertility brings, so you can find acceptance on your journey of healing.
Are you looking for greater fulfillment? Are you struggling with clarifying your goals, identifying obstacles holding you back, and developing strategies for overcoming obstacles? Life coaching will enable you to make value-aligned life choices, assist you in defining what success means to you, uncover and target unique skills and gifts you possess, and assist you in identifying and maximizing your strengths!Life coaching aids you in improving a variety of arenas in your life such as relationships, career, mental health, wellness, diet, fitness, business, and many more! Life coaching provides you the support and empowerment to achieve long-lasting change and growth.
Do you have trouble forming or sustaining friendships or even romantic relationships? Do you feel isolated and lonely? You’re not alone with this, shame is the feeling that a person is, at their core, bad or wrong. You might feel shame for no reason at all, or long after you have made amends for a misdeed. This behavior can lead to a host of mental health challenges, including depression and anxiety. It may also make it difficult to get close to others. You might even feel paralyzed and its now affecting your work or schooling. I would love the opportunity to help you process, grow and be able to truly define yourself and be comfortable with your choices!
A psychological evaluation before bariatric surgery is a critical step. The purpose is to better understand the motivation, readiness, challenges, and emotional factors that may impact your coping and adjustment through surgery and put you in the best environment needed to succeed. Although this may seem like a scary and intimidating part of the process, together we will identify your strengths, assist you in understanding the effects surgery will have and what your supportive team at home will look like. The purpose is never to “fail” individuals and exclude anyone from surgery. We may identify areas where you may need additional support after surgery, and time will be taken to explore these and assist you in understanding and preparing to meet your health goals.
© 2024 Empower Counseling - All Rights Reserved.