Areas of Expertise | Renewed Integrative Counseling

CHANGE YOUR THINKING. CHANGE YOUR LIFE

In order to transform your life, there has to be a shift in perspective. In order to shift perspective, there has to be a process of true reflection of where you are and true surrender to where you want to be.

Our team of professionals use a variety of therapeutic modalities to target mental health wellness. Success in counseling has to do with building a healthy and trusting client-counselor relationship, finding the root cause of the emotional and spiritual dysregulation, implementing appropriate evidence-based practices that target the individual needs of the client, and consistent client commitment in the therapeutic journey. At Renewed Integrative Counseling, we strongly incorporate daily holistic practices within our client's treatment plan to include psychoeducation, neuroeducation, nutritional habits, sleeping patterns, movement and exercise, mindfulness & mediation, prayer, bibliotherapy, artistic expression and more. Below is more information about a few therapeutic models of specialization at our practice.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to treat a wide range of mental health issues. Studies have shown it is an effective treatment for individuals struggling with depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and many other mental health issues. CBT focuses on exploring the relationships between someone's thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

In CBT, clients learn to identify, question and change unhealthy ways of thinking. By monitoring and recording thoughts, people can challenge irrational or negative thinking patterns and respond to them in a more effective way. CBT teaches clients to reframe negative or inaccurate thinking which helps reduce unhealthy patterns. With the help of a therapist, clients develop effective ways of thinking that help engage in healthier beliefs and behaviors.

CBT gives you the power to cope with your situation in a healthy, positive way and allows you to feel better about your life and most importantly, yourself.

CBT typically includes:

Uncovering the causes to your current issues.
Becoming aware of your thoughts and associated emotions and behavior.
Identifying negative or irrational thoughts
Reframing negative or irrational thoughts.
Developing new coping skills.

Couples Therapy

During couples therapy, the Gottman Method is utilized. It is a structured, goal oriented, scientifically-based therapy that helps couples increase respect, affection, closeness, and helps couples manage conflict. It helps to generate a better understanding between partners.

Interventions are based upon three decades of empirical relationship research from Dr. John and Julie Gottman. Through their research from more than 3,000 couples, they have shown that couples can accomplish making relationship last, become better friends, achieve greater understanding, find more ways to connect and become intimate, and create ways to support each another in the future.

Throughout therapy, couples will work on:

Building Love Maps: How well do you know your partners inner world, his or her history, worries, stresses, joys and hopes?
Sharing Fondness and Admiration: This is where we focus on the amount of affection and respect within the relationship.
Turning Towards: Stating your needs, being aware of bids for connection, and responding (turning towards) them.
The Positive Perspective: Helping maintain a positive perspective of the relationship. Developing a positive approach to problem solving and the succeeding in repairing attempts.
Managing Conflict: Conflict is natural and has a functional positive aspect in a relationship. That is why we say “manage “conflict rather than “resolve” conflict.
Making Life Dreams Come True: Creating an environment that encourages each partner to talk honestly about his or her hopes, values, and aspirations.
Creating Shared Meaning: Understand important visions, narratives, myths and metaphors about your relationship.
Trust: When partners know that their partner acts and thinks for the best interests and benefit of the other person in the relationship.
Commitment: Believing and acting on the knowledge that your relationship with your partner is completely your lifelong journey.

Christian Counseling

Christian counseling pulls from a variety of counseling methods, one of which is the highly effective intervention of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Nevertheless, much of biblical teachings referencing human emotions, thinking, and behaviors clearly outline the strategies published by CBT founders. Meaning, those effective strategies for how to deal with typical negative emotions, thoughts, and behaviors have been reflected in scriptures long before theorists developed their ideas and tested the effectiveness of those strategies. We can learn about mental health care straight from words imparted by our creator by studying biblical scriptures.

One of the main differences between Christian counseling and some of the more secular counseling approaches is that Christian counselors use a wide range of materials, tools, resources, and psychological techniques, including prayer, scripture study, affirmation, self-auditing or self-evaluation to help you combat mental health challenges. Christian counselors combine your spiritual health with your emotional, physical, and relational health because they understand that a whole-person approach is the most effective approach to care and wellness. Through the counseling journey, there is an additional focus on a person's spiritual health and personal relationship with God to draw on supernatural strength from the Holy Spirit that helps individuals overcome a downcast spirit, anxious mind, mental fog/disorganization, and emotional distress and increase self-worth, life meaning, and spiritual fulfillment.

Some of the things you should expect from Christian counseling include:

Prayer, scripture, and other supplementary materials during the session and as homework assignments.
Family education & support.
Learning how to cope with serious life events like death or illness.
Learning to effectively communicate and self-regulate emotions.
Self-reflection and learning to change sabotaging and distorted thinking patterns.
Learning coping strategies for managing stress, worry, or depressive moods.
Learning how to lean on spiritual discernment for making good judgment calls and decisions.

EMDR THERAPY

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy helps your brain resume its natural healing process and is a highly effective and efficient evidenced-based approach for trauma treatment. Trauma treatment is not just about being physically or sexually abused. It is also for individuals who were in a car accident, bullied as a child and/or had parents/caregivers who were mean or belittling. When we go through an experience that has a negative impact on us, we tend to form negative beliefs about ourselves based on the incident. These negative beliefs are what drives our behaviors and how we interact with the world. Our negative beliefs also have the ability to increase anxious and depressive systems.

Does this sound familiar to you; I'm not good enough, I'm not safe, I am going to die, I am powerless, I don't deserve to be loved, I am inadequate, I am responsible, or I don't matter? If it does, you may be a good candidate for EMDR therapy.

EMDR therapy is a holistic approach-based therapy, that uses bilateral stimulation, i.e., eye movements or alternative tapping to reduce distress caused by trauma or adverse experiences. EMDR reduces the distress caused by these incidents by focusing on the negative beliefs and the experiences that led to them. After the completion of EMDR therapy, you will view yourself in a more positive way.

ANYONE EXPERIENCING THE FOLLOWING WOULD BENEFIT:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Non-combat related PTSD
Anxiety & Depression
Grief and loss
Low self-esteem
Attachment wounds (primary caregiver was emotionally detached or not around)
Panic attacks/Phobias/fears
Childhood trauma and abuse
Sexual and Physical abuse
Difficulty trusting others
Feelings of shame and guilt

A few additional therapy models used within our practice include but are not limited to:

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT)
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)
Symbis Pre-Marital Program
and more...