Dustin Palmer (He/Him)

A simplified way to define depression is as an a-motivator. It decreases our motivation and dullens our sense of joy, which can create a vicious cycle of having less and less energy while getting less out of the effort we do put in. This is understandably upsetting and can lead to feelings of hopelessness, disengagement, and withdrawal. I help you to understand your own depressive cycle and create individualized plans to slow down and stop the cycle so you can feel yourself again.

Burnout happens to us all, after doing something so long or so intensely it has an affect on us. We feel worn out, angry, oftentimes even ashamed we are feeling this way at all. It can be very difficult for someone who has spent a good part of their life working toward something to start feeling like their fulfillment has been replaced by pain. I encourage honest conversations about these feelings where we explore techniques to help reduce the symptoms as well as life change if needed.

Anxiety can be overwhelming with constant worries about what might go wrong. Even when things are calm it can feel like we're just waiting "for the other shoe to drop." It even affects us outside of stressful situations, just thinking about the stress can cause as much or more anxiety than the event itself. I help you identify your anxiety and it's responses so we can learn how to teach your body to stop worrying when it isn't necessary and live in the moment again.

We often find ourselves in situations that can't or shouldn't change, but still feel like they cause us harm. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a technique I use to help you figure out how to accept the difficult without dwelling on it. There are various ways to achieve this such as using mindfulness practices and finding ways to let distressing thoughts be without disturbing us or trying to get rid of them. By accepting instead of fighting against our situation, problems usually decrease.

Therapy doesn't always have to be a long term commitment with a lot of delving into the past or practicing new techniques. Oftentimes, people already have the skills they need to overcome their situation but may not realize it at the time or might not know how to implement their skills during their time of stress. Solution focused therapy looks at your strengths and identifies a clear path to build up your skills again at a pace that feels right for you.

Our brains work overtime with thoughts all the time, whether we recognize them or not. Often we have automatic thoughts that start to become destructive, we nearly always go to the worst interpretation without even thinking about it. This in turn affects our mood and behaviors. Using CBT we identify your thought processes to discover how they are affecting you and then train you in how to recognize and change these automatic thoughts and behaviors so you can respond differently.