What can we help you with?

Humans are social creatures and one of the primary characteristics that sets us apart from other species is the breadth and depth of our emotional experiences. In a perfect world, we would consistently be aware of our own internal states and be able to communicate our needs and concerns to others in a way that fostered understanding and connectedness. 

Unfortunately, we don’t live in such a world and our life experiences are rife with opportunities for misperception, misinterpretation, and miscommunication. 

If you’re like most people, you have experienced emotional pain numerous times over the course of your life. It would in fact be extremely rare if you are not impacted by mental, emotional, and psychological distress at least occasionally. Most of the time, we weather these storms without much difficulty. But sometimes an event or experience is particularly salient, and its impact can be more painful and lasting. 

There is great deal of overlap between people in how they manage their emotional distress. Some of those avenues are helpful and adaptive while. Others are less so. Some are outright toxic and self-destructive, but we all have our own personal arsenal of dealing with the problems that our imperfect lives throw our way. 

When faced with a new situation, we tend to fall back on tried-and-true (though not necessarily healthy) response patters that have “worked” for us in the past. For some, their go-to response may be to seek comfort and counsel from family, friends, or peers. Others find strength, meaning, and guidance through religion or prayer. Some reliably turn to illicit substances in times of distress. 

Sometimes these strategies work; sometimes they don’t. But when one continues to experience  the same problems over and over again, it might be time to take a closer look at why it keeps happening and ask if it may be time to try something different. As author Stephen Covey points out: "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting."

People avoid therapy for any number of reasons that we cover elsewhere. For now, it may be helpful to consider some of the areas that trained therapists can help with: 

· Abuse/trauma 

· Academic or work problems 

· Addiction (substance use, sex, spending, gambling, social media, video games)

· Anxiety and panic 

· Body image  

· Boundary issues 

· Caregiver distress and hopelessness 

· Children and adolescents 

· Chronic pain 

· Co-dependency 

· Commitment issues 

· Communication and relationship issues 

· Coping skills 

· Domestic violence 

· Eating, food, and weight issues 

· Elderly or age-related issues 

· Family conflict 

· Family of origin issues 

· Feelings of inadequacy, worthlessness 

· Gender identity 

· Grief, loss, and depression  

· Guilt 

· Helpless/hopelessness or suicidal thoughts

· Identity crisis 

· Infertility 

· Intellectual assessment and skill-building 

· Life changes (job, home, etc.) 

· Life coaching, self-exploration, and coping strategies 

· Life transitions 

· Living with medical conditions 

· Marital issues 

· Men’s issues 

· Mood swings, anger, and irritability 

· Paranoia and delusional thinking 

· Parenting 

· Parenting strategies 

· Personality disorder 

· Physical abuse 

· Post-concussion syndrome/traumatic brain injury 

· Racial identity 

· Relationships 

· Self-care 

· Self-esteem 

· Self-harm (cutting, burning, biting, etc.) 

· Sexuality 

· Situational stressors/major life events 

· Sleep disturbance 

· Social skill building 

· Stress tolerance 

· Toxic relationships 

· Trauma and PTSD 

· Weight concerns 

· Women’s issues

The above list is by no means exclusive and in fact if none of these issues apply to you, a therapist may be what is needed to help you sort out what is really affecting you. If you’ve got a problem with psychological distress, it doesn’t need a name. It needs a guide.