No two people are exactly alike. Our experience with our environment, beginning in the womb, our caregivers, mother and father, siblings, friends, and later in life intimate partners and our work life provides us with billions of interactions that make us totally unique. Add to this intergenerational influences and no two people are similar. We may begin our therapy with examining self states, are we flat or are we anxious? What your most important issues are is where we want to get started and determines the course of the psychotherapy.

Anxiety is the felt sense of stress that is accompanied by increased heart rate and respiration. Our bodies are naturally responding to a perceived threat, fight or flight, is the natural response our body is recruiting to perceived danger.

Most people will experience trauma in their lifetime whether it’s a car accident, abuse or neglect, the sudden death of a loved one, a violent criminal act, exposure to the violence of war, or a natural disaster.

Very few of us get through life without suffering some trauma. We experience parents that are stressed about their financial situation. Upending moves ,from home to home, due to parents career demands, military service or job seeking. Financially stable homes may put pressure on their children to succeed.

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, or MBCT, is designed for people who suffer from repeated bouts of depression or chronic unhappiness. It combines the ideas of cognitive therapy with meditative practices and attitudes based on the cultivation of mindfulness.

Narratives are stories or beliefs we have about ourselves and who we are. These narratives can be in our awareness or out of our awareness. Thee beliefs can be accurate and based on reality or they can be held because of how we viewed the world from our past and early experience.

Do you experience intense anxiety or nervousness when faced with social situations? Do you fear being judged or criticized by others? Are you always worried about making mistakes, looking bad or being embarrassed in front of others? If you answered yes to any of the above, you may have a social anxiety disorder. While it is normal to feel nervous in some social situations, people who experience daily social anxiety tend to avoid everyday interactions that cause them significant fear, anxiety, self-consciousness, and embarrassment because they fear being scrutinized or judged by…

Are you feeling hopeless, isolated and not your usual self? Do these thoughts often enter your mind? I am worthless and can’t do anything about it. I feel guilty for just wanting to eat, sleep and be alone. I hate who I am these days. I can’t stop crying, which makes me want to stay away from others. I feel gut-wrenching pain, but no one understands. My life and the world around me are dark. I hate it, but I can’t change it. If you have had any variation of these thoughts…