Many mental health issues can be effectively treated by psychotherapy alone, but when appropriate, the combination of medication and psychotherapy is also very effective. This service is provided on an individual basis and some group work is offered. You can review some of the mental health issues you might be experiencing on my web page like depression, anxiety, relationships and trauma. Ages seven and up are accepted.
My approach to psychotherapy relies primarily on the following interventions:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (see link)
- EMDR (see link)
- Object Relations Therapy (see link)
- Mind/Body Interventions
- Dream work
- Client Centered Therapy (see link)
- Existential Therapy (see link)
- Rational Emotive Therapy (see link)
- Focusing Therapy (see link)
- Bioenergetics Therapy (see link)
By using the most appropriate intervention to benefit you, a therapeutic relationship can be developed so you can feel safe and understood. Psychotherapy is a process of identifying, accepting and modifying your mental, emotional, and behavioral issues which contribute to imbalance of the mind and body. Most group insurance policies pay for this service. Individual policies that pay for outpatient mental health are limited.
Substance Abuse Services
Individual and group outpatient services are offered. I have been trained, licensed and credentialed in both the mental health field and substance abuse. I combine the interventions and methods of both disciplines in my practice. Read more about the topic of alcohol and drugs on this web page, and think about what stage of using alcohol and drugs you or a loved one might be in.
Specific outpatient services include:
- Alcohol/drug assessments
- Alcohol/drug counseling aftercare for people coming out of in-patient care
- Alcohol/drug counseling with no prior treatment
- Dual diagnosis counseling
- Coordination of services with primary physicians, addictionologists and psychiatrists
- Counseling for significant others affected by someone who has an alcohol/drug problem
- Referral and information about supportive services
Coordination with local courts is available for individuals who are court ordered. This is also an approved service for the Michigan Health Professional Recovery Program and the Lawyer and Judge Assistance Professional Recovery Program in the state of Michigan. Some financial assistance is offered for impaired medical professionals by the Western Upper Peninsula Coordinating Agency.
Most group insurance policies pay for this service. Individual policies that pay for outpatient substance abuse services are limited.
Family Intervention Services
This service helps family members and significant others motivate a loved one to get help for an alcohol or drug problem. Most individuals do not get help for their substance abuse issue until the problems or emotional/physical pain become unbearable. The family intervention presents the family pain and crisis that has been ignored and denied by the loved one in trouble with alcohol and or drugs. Addiction or alcoholism is a family disease. Every member in the family has been affected. At the end of the intervention, regardless if the loved one accepts treatment, each family member will better understand the effect family alcoholism has had on them and how to get better.
The service has four components. The first is education for family members to understand the nature of addiction and how it affects the family. See the topic alcohol and drugs on my web page. The second is preparing for the intervention. There are many things to keep in mind and arrangements to make to increase the probability that your loved one will accept treatment. Third is the intervention and fourth is the review and what family members plan to do to take care of themselves. The amount and time for the entire process varies and usually can be done within 4 to 5 hours. The fee is three to five hundred dollars depending on how much time was used. This service is not covered by insurance.
Driver’s Assessment
If your license has been revoked due to a driving alcohol/drug related conviction, the State of Michigan and other states often require a substance abuse evaluation. This service provides the necessary documents and evaluation that satisfies the state’s requirements.
You need from 3 to 6 letters from individuals that know you well and see you often. An AA sponsor and parents carry a lot of weight in supporting evidence that you have been sober for at least one year. The State of Michigan is strict about being sober for one year. The more evidence you have to support one year of sobriety, the better chance you will not be denied. Also the State of Michigan values AA and or SMART RECOVERY attendance. Any records you have attending these meetings is helpful. Also records that you received PBT’s from the court are very credible. A ten panel drug screen is needed and can be obtained at your local hospital’s laboratory. You will need a history of all your convictions that involved alcohol or drugs for driving and nonrelated driving incidents. You need to know the blood alcohol level, BAL, that was recorded for each conviction. You can receive this information from the Secretary of State. If you attended any kind of in-patient or out-patient substance abuse services, it is very useful to get the discharge report from the program. The fee for the service is $ 225.00 in cash or credit card. Insurance companies do not pay for this service.
Marital and Couple Counseling
Marriage and couple’s counseling starts off by each person being seen individually, and then as a couple. Throughout counseling I may see you as a couple or individually. Please read the topic “Relationships” on my web page. Think about what stage in the relationship you are both in. Also think about how much you blame the other for what is going on and how much responsibility you are taking for what you bring to the table that is not useful for the relationship. Most insurances will pay for this service with one person being designated as the client.
Family Counseling
Family counseling is usually indicated when children or teens are having difficulties. The family environment has a crucial impact on the development of children. A careful review of what is going on in the family is made. Improvements in communication, attachment, separation, individuation and personal mental and physical health are addressed in family counseling. Ages 5 and up are accepted. Most insurances will pay for this service, with one person, usually the child being identified as the client.
Relationships
About 70% of my case load involves helping people with relationship issues. Not being in a relationship or living alone, our thoughts, feelings, view on things, or style of doing things is not challenged or questioned like they might be in a relationship. Because we are endowed with social drives and instincts, we tend to gravitate toward a connection to other human beings. Most mental health experts agree that human connection is required for survival that begins with attachment and bonding experiences with the care giver. (Continue reading …)
Depression and Anxiety
Depression and anxiety usually go hand in hand. Too much anxiety can wear a person down by thinking too much and not getting good sleep. When the brain and body cannot maintain a viable energy, various levels of depression will set in. There are two general types of depression. Melancholy depression is usually caused by chronically not getting what one wants or needs from the environment. It could be anything from a physical need like employment and independent living, an emotional need like self esteem and social status, a spiritual need like meaning and purpose, or a relational need like not feeling connected with other human beings. Clinical depression is a more severe depression whereby the brain is acutely worn down and there is little motivation to do anything. It can start out with prolonged melancholy depression but it usually has the tendency to associate with neurochemistry/brain deficits most often determined by heredity. Depressions with no known external/environmental stressors like thyroid, hormonal and medical issues, are other types of depression. (Continue reading …)
Trauma
You have heard the saying, “It happened so long ago in the past, just forget about it”. It would be nice if human beings could really just forget about some awful experience in the past. However, it is possible we would not have survived this long if our brains did not record dangerous and unsafe events to protect ourselves from further danger. Events that threaten our emotional and physical being can occur over a period of time like child /spouse abuse, war, or from a specific event like rape or a plane crash. Life threatening events train the amygdala in our brain to scan our environment for any impending danger, whether we are conscious or not of the danger. A soldier who saw combat in Iraq may be conscious of feeling very anxious at a wedding reception in his local town. He wonders why he feels so uncomfortable and feels like leaving. He does not realize it, but his amygdala is reacting to the crowd of people at the reception similar to the crowd in Iraq that hid a suicide bomber. (Continue reading …)
Pain Management
There is a two step process in experiencing pain. The first is the actual cause of the pain like inflammation or damage that can involve many different parts of the body i.e. nerves, muscles and bone. The second is the perception of pain. There are a number of interventions that work on the physical sites of the body and a number of cognitive pain management strategies that work on the perception of pain. Both can alleviate and soothe the experience of pain. Pain is necessary for survival and serves as a signal system that something is wrong and action is needed for the healing process. Seeing your doctor is important to get a diagnosis and explore what interventions can be made. Acute pain is usually temporary and most often from an injury or after an operation. Chronic pain is long term from something like arthritis. (Continue reading …)