The following is an overview of some of the areas I specialize in. Please feel free to contact me for more information, to answer questions or to book a session.
Generalized Anxiety
With anxiety, you might experience uncomfortable sensations in the stomach, chest or throat. Perhaps you have difficultly focusing, concentrating, eating or sleeping. You might be engaged in constant worry about the future, or caught in reliving the past, or just plain worried about everything. You may even experience intense levels of panic or find yourself caught up in re-living traumatic memories. But please be assured, there is hope; learn more about anxiety and how ChangeWork Strategies can help.
Panic
As far as I’m concerned “panic” is the mother of all anxiety ‘disorders’. It seems to come out of the blue, full blown and devastatingly scary and intense. It may feel as if you’re having a heart attack or going crazy. You might experience palpitations, trembling, dizziness, chills or fear of dying. Panic comes on fast and can quickly begin to control your life, making your world smaller and smaller. Again, there is relief and hope; learn more about panic and how ChangeWork Strategies can help.
Agoraphobia
Many people who experience panic also suffer with agoraphobia, which is essentially a fear about having a panic attack and not being able to escape. If this is you, you may have noticed that this fear begins to control your life in a way that severely restricts your interactions with people, activities, and recreational pursuits. Many experience a sense of dread with the very idea of being outside the home alone, crossing a bridge, driving, standing in a line, or being in a crowd. If you find yourself avoiding life, be assured there are hope and a chance to live freely again.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a form of distress that is characterized by the re-experiencing of a traumatic event. With PTSD you may find that memories, intrusive thoughts or dreams about a traumatic event show up without warning. You may even have the sense that the event is reoccurring and find yourself avoiding people, places and situations that might trigger this experience. As with agoraphobia, your world becomes smaller as you try to avoid life in order to protect yourself from intense distress. Despite the severity of the symptoms, there is hope and freedom.
Depression
With depression, you may feel sad, hopeless, discouraged or just plain “down in the dumps”. Depression is different from a negative emotion, which comes and goes, because depression seems to invade your life with an almost constant sense of emptiness. You may find you can’t sleep, or you want to sleep all the time; your appetite may be reduced or increased; you may feel tired, fatigued and out of energy or steam much of the time; and worst of all, you may begin to worthless, hopeless and guilty. Read more about depression and how ChangeWork Strategies can help
Anger
With anger, you may feel your emotions go from zero to a hundred in a split second. You may find yourself exploding with rage and saying and doing things, which you later regret. Once this pattern is in place, you may find it showing up with even minor irritations, making your life seem increasingly more miserable, guilt ridden and out of control. But there is hope; read more about anger and how therapy can help.
Addiction
Do you find yourself using more drugs or alcohol and being unable to stop or cut down despite your best attempts to do so? Is your usage interfering with your job or your relationships or creating a series of negative consequences in your daily life? Do you find you need more drugs or alcohol in order to feel better or high? Is your health suffering because of drug or alcohol use? If you find yourself struggling to answer these questions, help is available. Therapy and possibly the support of a structured recovery program offer hope and freedom. Click to learn more about addiction.
Tapping into creative potential
Feelings of anxiety, depression, and anger are often the result of a slow dampening of spirit and a growing sense that you’re living someone else’s life while yours is passing away before your eyes. You may long for a sense of motivation, energy and purpose, but instead find yourself stopped in your tracks by old fears, limiting beliefs or negative self-talk. Read more about creativity and how ChangeWork Strategies can help you move past old fears while discovering your creative potential and sense of the possible.
Communication skills
Anxious, depressed and angry feelings often arise from not being able to say what you mean or mean what you say. Fears about being perceived as stupid, uncaring, unkind or self-absorbed may prevent you from speaking your truth and getting your needs met. These fears may also prevent you from being present to what others say and need. Learning effective communication skills can enhance your relationships, your work environment and your self-esteem. Learn more about effective communication strategies.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a term used to describe the sense of being present with what is happening in your life, right here and right now. It refers to an open-minded acceptance of your own present experience and includes a growing ability to let go of judgment, criticism and comparison. It is essentially a way to slow the world down and ‘smell the roses’, so to speak. Mindfulness has been shown to be highly effective in reducing stress and its physiological markers, as well as bringing an renewed sense of balance, clarity and emotional intelligence. Read more about mindfulness