Below is a short list of issues we can directly address in our Chicago based office. Each issue requires a unique counseling approach to achieve a positive outcome.
Addictions
Troubles with Addictions impact many aspects of our lives. Learning to manage the cycle of addictions is key in overcoming and rebuilding the negative cycles of our lives. We will address the trigger / response cycle which is at the heart of the addictive process. What are your key triggers (how to insulate) and how to alter the response to a more productive behavior. We want to end the addiction at the core, not only the behavior.
Addictions often revolve around a few key areas. These areas generally include: Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking, Food, Sex, Pornography, Gambling, or any combination thereof.
We will assess the situation and connect any additional resources we may need to create success for our clients. Each person has a specific addictive cycle and surrounding circumstances, so we creating a program tailored for you which will drive you towards success and ultimately freedom.
Anxiety / Stress
Learning to manage stress and anxiety is a very common and important reason people begin counseling.
While these terms seem interchangeable; they are very different how they impact a person. Stress is a more common feeling which many of us experience, but does not impact functioning. Anxiety is when the stress load becomes so great, functioning begins to be impacted. Example, feeling butterflies before a speech is stress; calling in sick to avoid a speech is anxiety.
We specialize in treating stress and anxiety physically and mentally. Physically to reduce and control the body’s natural response to stress, and mentally to understand and manage the external and internal triggers to the event. Our clients have found success in treating stress and anxiety from mild to severe while using this combined approach.
Ultimately, we want to help you find peace and clarity so that you may enjoy your life to the fullest.
For more information, please visit our blog.
Anger Management
Anger management counseling is best understood by breaking it down into 2 equally important parts; changing behaviors and managing feelings.
First, is learning to change our behaviors relating to anger, directly focused on controlling verbal and/or physical outbursts. These often are the reasons we are coming into anger management counseling in the first place. Much of early therapy will focus on managing these troublesome outbursts so we can repair and better our surrounding relationships.
Second, is reducing and managing feelings of anger. We do this by identifying and understanding the personal triggers (internal or external) to an anger episode and finding ways to insulate ourselves from these triggers.
This combination yields drastic results. We want to assist you in controlling this part of your life so that you can be more present and engaged with your loved ones.
Please visit our blog for more information.
Communication Challenges
Communication issue are likely the most cited reasons people engage in counseling. Generally, small changes in how we present ourselves and communicate can have a tremendous impact in a person’s life.
We have all heard the phrase “It is not what you say, but how you say it”. This is the hard and fast rule that we use in our counseling space to begin producing changes in communication from some of our earliest sessions.
Taking a step back and realizing how we move through the world, and make others feel is powerful tool. This insight and self awareness, which grows through the process, becomes a reliable tool with which to assess and chose how to engage with everyone around us. This interactive counseling process will push you to increase awareness and begin sharing in an effective and productive way.
These lessons involve some of the following:
- When to Speak and When to Listen
- How to address difficult subjects with your partner, boss, etc.
- The best way to diffuse a situation
- How to challenge without receiving defensiveness
- Receiving dissonance and fuel a positive conversation
- Altering your responses to produce change and get what you want
- Learning to increase awareness of others and their patterns
These are a small number of lessons that can be learned through counseling.
Learning to master communication is at the heart of counseling and will benefit every aspect of your life.
Please visit our blog for more information.
Confidence
When a person begins to feel a lack of confidence, in one or multiple areas of their life, they can find it difficult to approach the subject matter on their own. Because of this lack, they will often feel small or not worthy when even thinking about the specific subject. Contacting a counselor to help you through this issue is key, as we can provide an analytical and objective perspective.
We can address this issue by taking a careful and precise process of looking at the issue and addressing the feelings and the reality. Often we can feel something because we may have skewed the data. You are likely stronger and more powerful than you may realize. This is the power of the impartial and objective nature of the counseling relationship.
Finding your confidence is a wonderful and fulfilling process.
Depression
While we may often hear people commonly use the word depression to express any down mood, depression is a serious and powerfully disruptive force in a person’s life. There are many forms of depression and each form can range from mild to severe.
Learning to manage and control depressive feelings can give a person back their life. Not only does depression make us feel sad and blue, it also affects our behaviors and how we enjoy life. Everything can be touched by a depressive episode; work, family, friends, spouse / partner, hobbies, etc.
It is vitally important that if you feel any symptoms of depression to contact a counselor today to at least assess for type and severity. Once we can address the specific type and nature, we will create a specific program to assist you in combating, overcoming, and thriving in your life.
Grief / Loss
Issues with Grief and Loss can stem from a variety of circumstances and a person’s response can be incredibly variable. Some people can feel a loss right away while others can hold for many months or years before they begin the mourning process. Also, Grief and Loss can show itself in many forms, from sadness, anxiety, anger, difficulty sleeping, completing tasks, etc. This wide range of symptoms can make it difficult to identify the link to a loss, and may even occur sometime later.
Having lost a loved one, no matter how close or far they were in your life, can have a great impact on how we feel and our day to day tasks. It is important to contact a specialist for these issues who can guide you through successfully managing this difficult time.
Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes can feel chaotic and troublesome. It is difficult when you feel that the rug has been pulled out from under you and all you want is find solid ground.
Sudden or striking changes in lifestyle are often complex tasks to navigate. When the landscape of one’s life are changing quickly and dramatically, it is key to find a guide to assist you in avoiding the pitfalls and capitalizing on the hidden opportunities.
Each person’s situation is specific to them, and only an individualized plan will work for them. This is where counseling will provide powerful results to the person who has the dedication and forethought to access and utilize the process.
Phobia / Fear
A Phobia is a powerful fear related to a specific stimuli that causes great distress for those who suffer. This powerful fear response can be overwhelming at times. Phobias are linked to specific stimuli, not a generalized fear. Counseling offers direct and dedicated approaches to learn to control this fear response and give you back your life.
Treatments for Phobias have very positive results. While there are many ways to treat phobias, the quickest and most effective treatment is learning to manage the fear response while altering our thoughts about the stimulus (object of fear) itself. This is called systematic desensitization. This is a powerful process that will yield results for anyone who dedicates themselves to the challenge of taking control back.
Please visit our blog for more information on phobias and systematic desensitization techniques.
Professional / Workplace Development
Utilizing the counseling space to drive success in the workplace is a forward thinking and adaptive use of counseling as a whole. When we engage in workplace development, we are taking the achievement oriented track.
This process is a global development of you as a work tool. What do you do well, what do you do adequate, and what do you fall short on? Such a simple task that we often spare no time or effort to clearly identify. We will do this together in the counseling space. The ultimate advantage of this is the counselor’s impartial and trained eye to challenge, uncover and develop new skills to secure success in your life.
This type of counseling pulls away from a deficit model towards a prosperity model. Learning new ways to communicate, interact, and better our work product will only increase our ability to succeed.
Taking the time to polish and hone our workpleace skills will also yield positive actions in our personal life as well. Our motto is “Always be better”.
Relationship Issues
Relationship issues are a common reason people begin counseling. This is because relationships, whether family, friend, husband / wife / partner, intimate, or workplace are incredibly important to all of us. And when they go wrong they can create great distress in our lives.
It is important to connect with a counselor that can walk you through the delicate and complicated nature of your relationship, from an objective and technical perspective. These perspectives include:
- Understanding the nature of the relationship
- The important dynamics of how you interact and communicate – what is the interplay
- Each person’s’ needs in the relationship and how to address them
- Changing our behaviors and communication which alters the outcome
- Refocusing negative interactions into positive growth
Utilizing a relationship and communication specialist in addressing relational challenges will yield positive results and will directly impact your happiness and ease.
Please visit our blog for more information.