De Angela Smith, MA, AMFT Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy

There are five stages of grief, anger, depression, bargaining, denial, and acceptance. When someone experience grief or loss, there is a big question of " who are we going to be after this?" Everyone copes with grief differently and you may find it difficult to classify your feelings into one of these stages. Through talk therapy, clients are able to talk about their experience and process emotions in a safe environment.

At the heart of Cognitive Behavioral therapy helps clients examine how thoughts affect emotions. It is hard to feel good when your thoughts are stuck in a negative cycle. In treating depression, client practice and learn how to turn those negative thought patterns into positive ones.

The is a difference between fear and anxiety. Anxiety is our mind interpreting danger, whereas fear is definite and immediate. When anxiety makes our daily lives unmanageable a treatment plan can interrupt and can assist in reducing and controlling your fear and anxiety. Psychodynamic therapy allows the client the opportunity to explore and broaden the range of feelings that they are uncomfortable with. this process allows the subtle unnoticed emotions to help begin managing their life better.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an evidence-based treatment that helps clients tune in to their internal dialogue. CBT has other branches to assist clients on accepting thoughts and feelings instead of trying to fight them. In the therapy, this is what I build the therapeutic relationship on, acceptance. Your grief, anxiety, pain, unforgiveness, fear, and sadness is accept here and I provide the space so that all of the emotions and thoughts can be held.

Often, when something traumatic happens, it seems to get locked in the nervous system with the original picture, sounds, thoughts, feelings, and so on. Since the experience is locked there, it continues to be triggered whenever a reminder comes up. The eye movements in EMDR seem to unlock the nervous system and allow your brain to process the experience. The eye movements in EMDR seem to unlock the nervous system and allow your brain to process the experience.

PREPARE/ENRICH is a customized couple assessment completed online that identifies a couple’s strength and growth areas. It is one of the most widely used programs for premarital counseling and premarital education. It is also used for marriage counseling, marriage enrichment, and dating couples considering engagement. Based on a couple’s assessment results, a trained facilitator provides 4-8 feedback sessions.