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Counseling Modalities

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I most closely follow the following theories: Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy as devised by Dr.s Aaron Beck and Donald Michenbaum, Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) by Dr Albert Ellis and Soul Healing Love therapies of Dr.s Beverly and Tom Rodgers. It might be beneficial to you to learn more about these approaches in order for us to better communicate. I can suggest books and/or articles for you to read if you want more information. However, it is not required or essential.

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is basically the idea that if you can change the way you think, you will be better able to change the way you behave. Beck (1988) believes that distorted thinking is not a symptom of the problem, it is the cause of the problem. Meichenbaum (1977) proposed a three-stage process for change. First, the person must become aware of the thoughts relevant to the problem being experienced. Next, the therapist and the client must determine alternative thoughts (self statements) that can believably replace the thoughts that are causing the person trouble. Finally, the person must implement thought changes and begin to enjoy the benefits of nondestructive cognition.

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The core assertion of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) is that a person’s thoughts are central to understanding that person. People often come to therapy because of a consequence, an emotional or behavioral consequence which is disturbing them. It is common for people to attribute their emotional or behavioral consequence to activating experiences or events, like there is a connection between them. Usually, people are not disturbed by the events themselves, but by the beliefs they hold about them. He says that irrational beliefs result in undesirable emotional consequences, while rational beliefs result in appropriate emotional consequences. Therefore, therapy consists of identifying irrational beliefs, disputing them and replacing them with rational beliefs. (This information was mostly taken from Modern Psychotherapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal by Jones and Butman, 1991, if you want more information on these or my own theory please ask me)

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Soul Healing Love will be explained in more detail in our sessions together, but the basic premise is that we allow the soul healing love of God to heal our childhood “soul wounds”.

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I believe that if you can identify what is really bothering you, work through the emotions associated with that, learn alternative ways to think about and deal with them, that you can change what is bothering you. This is a very simple attempt to explain a difficult to understand concept. It is not as easy as it looks. You need to be aware that there are risks as well as benefits to counseling. You may experience uncomfortable levels of feelings like sadness, guilt, anxiety, anger, frustration or have difficulty with other people. Some times during the process, it may seem like nothing is happening or that it is getting worse. That is a normal part of the process. Though there are no guarantees in counseling, your success is directly related to your willingness to work on the issues. We will set goals and look at methods to help you reach your goals. Periodically, we will evaluate our progress and, if necessary, redesign our plan, goals and possibly even our methods. This is a normal part of therapy.  This process is not always easy and it does not always work out the way you plan, but it can’t work if you don’t give it your best attempt.

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Clients I work with are psychologically and emotionally “healthy” and seek counseling for difficulties due to normal life events. I will enter our relationship with optimism and an eagerness to work with you. I do not take on clients whom, in my professional opinion, I cannot help using the techniques I have available. This does not mean that a person that I refer to someone else is “sick”, it just means that the issues this person has are outside of my training and competence. I have an interest in working with couples and single people with relationship issues and premarital counseling.

 

I am also Certified in Grief Therapy and Loss of a loved one. 

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