Life is
hard.
Stress, anger, pain, anxiety, depression all get in our way
sometimes. These things cause problems in our relationships,
in
the way we feel about ourselves, even in our physical health.
I work with:
- People
who are going
through major life changes such as divorce, job change, a move, a new
marriage, parenting problems, etc and want some help with alternative
ways to handle the
stress of those changes
- People
who want to improve communication or decrease
fighting in their
relationships
- People
who have suffered trauma or abuse in their childhood or
recent past and
are dealing with the negative impact of that now
I offer individual
therapy, marriage or relationship counseling, and family therapy for
adults in Greenville, Spartanburg, Easley areas of South
Carolina.
I
am a licensed
independent clinical social worker. In my personal life and as a
therapist, I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT, said "act"
not a - c - t). ACT is one of the third generation of
cognitive-behavioral therapies currently being taught and researched
all over the world today. It has recently been recognized by the
US government's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration as an evidenced-based practice. Click here for the
SAMHSA listing. Other third generation CBTs which are
similar to ACT are Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT),
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Funtional Analytic
Psychotherapy (FAP). ACT originated with Steven Hayes,
PhD about 25 years ago. Click here to read an article by Steve Hayes about ACT.
If you decide to
begin therapy with me, either alone or as a couple, we will work
together to identify the life you truly want to have and the actions
that will get you there. We will also clarify the internal
experiences (thoughts and feelings for example) that get in your way as
you travel your life path and improve your skills for dealing with
those hurdles.
If you take a really good look at your life, you will probably find
that many of the choices you have made have been in an effort to avoid
some negative emotion or thought. For example, in my life, I have
often been so consumed by avoiding the feeling/thought of failure that
I have often chosen my path in such a way that I had very little risk
of it. However, in doing so, I also cost myself some good
opportunities - such as going to a good school or getting a better job.
Can you imagine how different your life would be if you were
completely willing to have whatever feeling or thought came up as it
came up instead of trying to predict what might happen and avoiding it?
We can work together to discover how you may be getting in your own way
and how you can free yourself from fear and anger. I will help
you develop a new relationship with your thoughts and feelings, and as
a result, new, more peaceful relationships with everyone around you.
This
is Chloe. She is often present in my office during sessions.
She is a great co-therapist and many of my clients find her
soothing. However, if this is a problem for you, please let me
know and she will not be there. Please also do not bring other
animals into the office without first letting us know.
Directions
Fees
and Insurance Who is Cathy?
Contact
me for details
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