Think about an apple. What came to mind? A red one, yellow, green, mixed colors? How does thinking about it make you feel? Some may think of delicious apples and fun experiences apple picking in the past and feel happy, some may have had the unfortunate experience of finding a worm and feel disgusted, some may think of red ones, some may think of green, and all the in between! Some may feel fear because they found out they are allergic and had a bad experience eating one! and some people have no feelings towards them.

The Apple itself does not cause your thoughts or emotions. It’s all the factors and experiences you have had with them! Then how you act will depend on those thoughts and feelings! You may want to go buy and eat one now, or avoid them and even the thought of them, or wonder why I am asking about an apple.

Cognitive behavioral therapy helps you learn WHY you may think, feel, and behave in certain ways. We figure out which ways may not be helpful and instead cause stress in your life and then learn ways to either think of things differently or act in different ways that can help reduce stress. We work to help improve problem-solving and communication skills.

Here is a wealth of information to help you better understand what it means to work with a trauma informed therapist.

This article helps clients understand the difference bertween Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex-PTSD.

Somatic Experiencing is a style of therapy that allows a reconnection of mind and body. Carl Rogers, the founding father of the humanistic approach believed that every client has the ability to heal and grow, even in the most desolate of situations, and that the body sometimes knows more than the mind does. That the most important part of healing is having a safe space and unconditional acceptance. Somatic experiencing welcomes you into the room as you are in the moment and helps you learn to listen and trust in your body to help find where you are holding your wounds and ways to release them.

Narrative therapy believes the client is the expert on themselves and I truly believe this. You know yourself the best. We all have stories about ourselves and lives. The challenge occurs when those stories are very thin and sparse or are stories built up by others throughout the clients’ lives. Narrative therapy helps you create a thicker narrative that focuses on your core values to create the story of what you want your life to be and look like.

Narrative therapy is self-empowering and non-blaming.

There are a variety of techniques and exercises used in narrative therapy to help people heal and move past a problematic story.