Charlotte Haefner (she/her)

Tingly fingers, feeling fuzzy, racing and sometimes scary thoughts, pounding heart... sound familiar? sound awful? A panic attack survivor myself, I know all too well how scary, exhausting, and bewildering panic attacks can be. Work can suffer, daily life, sleep, your social life - you name it. Even your self esteem can take a hit. Rest assured, panic attacks are treatable. Let's get to the bottom of it, and grow some new skills and confidence so that your panic is a thing of the past.

Feeling like your nerves are strung as tight as piano wires is not what you're wanting. Let me help you with that. I have decades of experience working with individuals with anxiety and panic, helping them learn to self-regulate, self-monitor, and turn troublesome thoughts into supportive and affirming ones. I am adept at Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for anxiety and panic, having completed training with the Beck Institute. I integrate mindfulness and psychoeducation into my approach.

I utilize Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFTB) approaches in sessions when clients get stuck in "problem talk". We all do this, whether out loud or in our minds, from time to time. It is true that focusing on a problem can indeed help us solve it due to careful analysis, sometimes that problem focus can become a problem itself. SFBT is often an efficient way to pull us out of problem talk and right into a solution.

I use Motivational Interviewing (MI) strategies in sessions when a client is perhaps stuck in some ambivalence about something. This approach helps clients clear up doubt and helps them guide me as the facilitator to streamline our sessions so that we really get somewhere. Ambivalence, doubt, and uncertainty are all normal but MI is a way to move through it with intention and increased clarity so that the client is then able to move into action.

CBT focuses on challenging those whirling, repetitive, often unconscious thoughts that can happen throughout the day. Often those thoughts are there to serve and protect us, but when they start to bring us down, start to panic, or feel bad about ourselves with so much inner criticism, it's time to flip the switch on those. But how? CBT is renowned for this. What do you get out of it? You get to feel better. It's also short term and a skill you take with you. For life. How great is that?

Has someone who was important to you recently passed away? Is someone you love in the in the midst of a terminal illness and you find yourself experiencing some grief and grappling with how deeply conflicting this can feel? Did you just break up with a beloved? Whether this loved one was kind and loving to you or not matters little in the realm of processing grief. We each process it in our own unique way, on our own timeline. You don't have to go through this difficult time alone.

What is at the root of one's suffering? Often the source of patterns of emotional distress are unconscious and likely originated in the past. If explored, there is abundant information there that we can utilize to inform what is going on in our lives in present day. At the same time, this process of exploration can lead to deepened understanding and compassion toward ourselves and healing of old unconscious wounds. It is a compassionate illumination of our truest self and deeply impactful.

ACT is a type of psychotherapy that emphasizes acceptance as a way to deal with negative thoughts, feelings, symptoms, or circumstances versus trying to eliminate or change them. It also encourages increased commitment to healthy, constructive activities that uphold your values or goals to help improve a better balance both internally and externally.