How can I tell if I need to ask for help?
It isn't always easy to know when you need to ask for help rather than continue trying to make things better on your own. Here are some signs that it might be time to see a mental health counselor:

• When the way you feel is affecting your sleep, your eating habits, your job, your relationships, your everyday life.
• When you worry all the time, and never seem to find the answers.
• When it's not getting any better.
• When you feel trapped or feel that there is nowhere to turn.
• When you feel like you cannot do it alone.

If you do decided to ask for help, counseling can provide a supportive, objective, and non-judgmental way for you to deal with your concerns, deal with trauma or help restore your relationships.  We at Live Life Counseling offer phone consultations to talk about your concerns and see if we will be the best fit to work with you or guide you towards a better solution.

How does therapy help? Does it really help?
In general, mental health counselor AKA Psychotherapy is a cooperative process by which an individual can find solutions and resolution to persistent problems and underlying patterns that keep him or her from achieving overall satisfaction, enjoying certain aspects of life, or simply "being himself or herself." Often, people are struggling with issues of depression, anger, trauma, anxiety or other common issues which present obstacles to satisfying relationships, academic success, connected emotional lives, fulfilling careers, positive self esteem, and other psychological wants and needs. Through psychotherapy, people learn to recognize, confront, and resolve problematic patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving which are related to the difficulties they are currently experiencing in their lives.

Therapy is an effective way to better understand human emotions and, consequently, to enrich one's understanding of him or herself. Individuals can learn to develop more fulfilling, deeper relationships with family and friends, and can often become more successful in their careers and other life pursuits. In addition, as emotional functioning is closely related to physical functioning, mental health counseling can help individuals deal with medical issues such as chronic pain, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, and many others.

Therapeutic approaches differ in many basic ways, but they all include work with a trained clinician that helps the client, through seeing him or herself in a variety of new ways and from ever-shifting viewpoints, to facilitate change and personal growth.

How long does therapy take? How often do we meet?
As psychological needs and goals vary from individual to individual, there is no easy answer to this question. In general, however, short-term therapy is typically best-suited to individuals who have very specific goals and needs, such as overcoming a certain phobia or giving up unwanted "habits" such as smoking, overeating, etc. The duration of this therapy tends to be anywhere from six weeks to a few months, during which the therapist may be relatively directive, working with the individual to cultivate goal-oriented patterns and behaviors.

Contrastingly, long-term therapies tend to be less structured in approach. Although specific goals and behaviors are targeted, long-term psychotherapy takes the time to go deeper and understand the origins of unwanted feelings and behaviors. This approach can alleviate acute emotional issues. In addition, long-term therapy is particularly well-suited to addressing more subtle emotional issues, such as pervasive feelings of dissatisfaction. Longer-term therapy also helps people who wish to experience life and relationships in a more satisfying manner. Longer-term therapy encourages the client to explore his or her personality to uproot certain obstacles and undesirable patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. Although it is a good idea to have a basic understanding of short-term versus long-term psychotherapy, you do not need to make this decision yourself.

In the first few sessions, we at Live Life Counseling will work with you to better understand your goals and will suggest a plan of treatment. At that time also, we will decide if meeting on a weekly basis is the most effective schedule for your needs or if something less frequently will be as effective.

Do you accept insurance?
No. Currently, we only provide counseling on a fee for service basis. We do have a sliding fee scale and can also  provide you with the necessary CPT code and treatment information so that you may file a claim with your personal health insurance company if you so desire.