Many times in our lives we stop and ask, “why am I still stuck in the same place I’ve always been?” At times, there are many barriers in life that prevent us from moving forward with our goals or dreams. Just because you may be considering counseling doesn’t mean you have a clinical condition. The main focus of therapy is to help you identify, learn, and strengthen skills you may or may not already have.

Each of us, at one time or another will experience emotional pain. Sometimes the sadness doesn’t go away and we begin to realize that it is impacting not only ourselves, but our work, relationships, and overall life satisfaction. If you are someone who finds that you worry persistently, experiences sadness that doesn’t go away, or has just gone through a life transition, professional counseling can help with gaining understanding of the symptoms, working collaboratively to uncover underlying causes, and assist you in regaining emotional well-being.

In life we exist in relationship to others. Many of us know the stress that can be created by a spouse, sibling, children, or co-workers. Counseling can help with understanding the causes of our relationship difficulties. The main focus is to help improve your ability to interact and relate with those around you. Your counselor may at times talk with you about including family as a part of your treatment to assist with the healing process.

Life doesn’t come with a handbook and a preset response to what happens throughout. Given this information, we can’t always be expected to have the necessary skills to manage all that life throws at us. In some instances we do the best we can and realize it just isn’t cutting it or even makes things worse. Some examples of this are poor or ineffective communication, anger or impulse control, or a lack of assertiveness. You and your counselor can work together to identify strength and growth areas and work together to implement new skills to assist you in managing life in a healthier manner.

This area is an unfortunate part of the world we live in and something many live life trying to deal with. If you have been a victim of abuse or violence or experienced a traumatic event, you may have been left with feelings of anger, guilt, shame, helplessness, or relationship problems. The main focus on counseling is to develop a safe environment where you and your counselor can work through the sensitive issues you bring to the session. The counselor will work with you to address how you can move forward and gain greater control over your life.