Our lives are stressful and complex. Sometimes even overwhelming! We employ short-term and effective approaches to quickly identifying life challenges and work with you to craft a treatment plan that is specific and practical, based on Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (CBT)-a powerful treatment that challenges unhelpful thinking patterns and teaches new effective behaviors to cope with life’s problems. No “psycho-babble” here!

Issues Addressed:

• Anxiety Disorders and Stress – Stress and anxiety can rob you of the quality of your life. Muscle tension, gastro-intestinal upset and general inner tension and “nervousness” can roadblock your life’s goals and make each day a challenge. You will learn new ways to identify the beginnings of “fight or flight” arousal and to relax your mind and body while challenging and replacing upsetting thinking patterns (e.g., worrying, catastrophizing, “filtering in” upsetting thoughts) that trigger the anxiety in the first place.
• Depression – Research indicates that CBT is the treatment of choice for mild and moderate depression and can be as effective as medication. For more serious depression, medication and CBT are usually employed and we make referral to medical colleagues. You will learn to replace negative and dysfunctional patterns of thinking that fuel depression and to increase the positive activities of your life (or find new ones) with the encouragement of an understanding therapist.
• Anger Management – Based on Dr. Nay’s books Taking Charge of Anger (Guilford Press, 2004) and Overcoming Anger in Your Relationship (Guilford Press, 2010), you will learn a six-step CBT-based program to identify your anger arousal early on so you can reign-in your emotions in while challenging and replacing anger-thinking patterns that trigger anger in the first place. Also, ways of defusing others’ provocative statements and actions while also effectively communicating your own needs are practiced to perfection.
• Self Esteem Issues – CBT is the treatment of choice for identifying dysfunctional and negative beliefs about yourself or others that roadblock success in achieving your goals. Changing your inner “script” from thinking that undermines your confidence to positive and rational thinking that opens life’s doors is the focus. Achieving your life’s goals (see “Crafting Vision Statements and Setting Goals” section above) is a major focus.
• Motivation & Life Goals – See section above on “Crafting Vision Statements and Setting Goals” for a description of developing a vision statement. This approach is carried out for you as an individual with a specific set of visions for what you would like your life to achieve in the near-term and over the next five years.
• Care giving & End of Life Issues – We offer support and coping strategies for both caretakers and elderly clients who are facing medical or psychiatric issues. We can help in decision-making regarding best living situation, whether at home or assisted living or in some cases nursing home care and support all family members as life and living changes are occurring.