Counseling

Counseling sessions are 50 minutes long and conducted once a week at the beginning of therapy. My fee is $120., which includes the 50 minute session, phone contact and paper work. My counseling approach utilizes the following psychotherapeutic tools and techniques to help guide the client in a positive direction:

Client-Centered -- Counseling is about you and what you want to accomplish. Whether you are feeling depressed or anxious, have a teen that seems "out of control," or having trouble with your marriage, the counseling session is your safe, confidential place to work on improving your life. What's important to understand is that the changes in your life will be directly effected by how much effort you put into utilizing what you learn in counseling in your daily lilfe. A counseling session is only fifty minutes a week, the remainder of your time is what is most important. With this in mind, honesty is very important. Again, these are your sessions, feel free to express whatever is on your mind.

Goal Oriented -- One of the first things we do in session is to write down your goals, what it is that you want to accomplish in therapy. Once your goals are listed you can then decide which ones to start with and which ones to put on hold. An important note is that your goals are not static. You can change your goals or move them around at any time. It is also important to realize that these goals are what you want to accomplish, not what I believe should be accomplished.

Solution-Focused -- I can not determine how many sessions it will take for you to accomplish your goals. If you are motivated to change and work hard, counseling could be short term. In general, short term is anywhere from three to five sessions. In some cases, more time is needed, and that's okay. The point here is that although counseling is at your own pace, if there is no movement after a period of time, something needs to change. This is why goals are set. With goals you have something concrete to review at certain points of therapy. If you have made progress on certain goals and not others, you know where to go from that point.