Solutions Counseling
"The beautiful thing about fear is,
when you run to it, it runs away"
-Robin Sharma
Welcome!
I'm so glad you're looking at getting help for yourself or a loved one. Anxiety can destroy lives and make us feel trapped. I specialize in the treatment of anxiety disorders like OCD, GAD, social anxiety, and panic disorder along with trauma and stress related disorders like PTSD. I am licensed as a professional counselor in the State of Texas. I hold a Masters Degree in Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary and a BA from Austin College. I am trained in ERP for OCD by NOCD and the Cognitive Behavior Institute. I am also trained in Prolonged Exposure by the Strong Star Training Initiative and trained in EMDR. I have tried many different therapies and I have found Exposure Therapy to be the gold standard in helping clients regain their lives. I am a member of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF.org) and the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA.org).
I treat teenagers (12+) and adults.
Fee: $125 per 45 min session
Telehealth (Virtual Sessions) Offered for Texas Residents
What Is Exposure Therapy?
Exposure therapy is a psychological treatment that was developed to help people confront their fears. When people are fearful of something, they tend to avoid the feared objects, activities or situations. Although this avoidance might help reduce feelings of fear in the short term, over the long term it can make the fear become even worse. In such situations, a therapist might recommend a program of exposure therapy in order to help break the pattern of avoidance and fear. In this form of therapy, psychologists create a safe environment in which to “expose” individuals to the things they fear and avoid. The exposure to the feared objects, activities or situations in a safe environment helps reduce fear and decrease avoidance.
Exposure therapy has been scientifically demonstrated to be a helpful treatment or treatment component for a range of problems, including:
Phobias
Panic Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
There are several variations of exposure therapy. Your therapist can help you determine which strategy is best for you. These include:
In vivo exposure: Directly facing a feared object, situation or activity in real life. For example, someone with a fear of snakes might be instructed to handle a snake, or someone with social anxiety might be instructed to give a speech in front of an audience.
Imaginal exposure: Vividly imagining the feared object, situation or activity. For example, someone with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder might be asked to recall and describe his or her traumatic experience in order to reduce feelings of fear.
Interoceptive exposure: Deliberately bringing on physical sensations that are harmless, yet feared. For example, someone with Panic Disorder might be instructed to run in place in order to make his or her heart speed up, and therefore learn that this sensation is not dangerous.
Exposure therapy can also be paced in different ways. These include:
Graded exposure: The psychologist helps the client construct an exposure fear hierarchy, in which feared objects, activities or situations are ranked according to difficulty. They begin with mildly or moderately difficult exposures, then progress to harder ones.
Flooding: Using the exposure fear hierarchy to begin exposure with the most difficult tasks.
Exposure therapy is thought to help in several ways, including:
Habituation: Over time, people find that their reactions to feared objects or situations decrease.
Extinction: Exposure can help weaken previously learned associations between feared objects, activities or situations and bad outcomes.
Self-efficacy: Exposure can help show the client that he/she is capable of confronting his/her fears and can manage the feelings of anxiety.
Emotional processing: During exposure, the client can learn to attach new, more realistic beliefs about feared objects, activities or situations, and can become more comfortable with the experience of fear.
Source: APA Div. 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
What is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders.
How is EMDR therapy different from other therapies?
EMDR therapy does not require talking in detail about the distressing issue or completing homework between sessions. EMDR therapy, rather than focusing on changing the emotions, thoughts, or behaviors resulting from the distressing issue, allows the brain to resume its natural healing process.
EMDR therapy is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain. For many clients, EMDR therapy can be completed in fewer sessions than other psychotherapies.
Who can benefit from EMDR therapy?
EMDR therapy helps children and adults of all ages. Therapists use EMDR therapy to address a wide range of challenges:
Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias
Chronic Illness and medical issues
Depression and bipolar disorders
Dissociative disorders
Eating disorders
Grief and loss
Pain
Performance anxiety
Personality disorders
PTSD and other trauma and stress-related issues
Sexual assault
Sleep disturbance
Substance abuse and addiction
Violence and abuse
Experiencing EMDR Therapy
After the therapist and client agree that EMDR therapy is a good fit, the client will work through the eight phases of EMDR therapy with their therapist.
Attention will be given to a negative image, belief, and body feeling related to this event, and then to a positive belief that would indicate the issue was resolved.
A typical EMDR therapy session lasts from 60-90 minutes. EMDR therapy may be used within a standard talking therapy, as an adjunctive therapy with a separate therapist, or as a treatment all by itself.