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Adults
Developmental stages are not confined to childhood. As adults we look toward committed relationships (or the lack thereof), being parents (or not), continuing career choices, the growing awareness of losing our youthfulness during middle age, and the challenges of aging thereafter. At any point we may face existential questions about the meaning of life and our place and purpose in it.
In addition, life's curveballs can throw us off balance and render our usual coping styles useless. Therapy can smooth transitions and foster the inherent wisdom in each one of us that allows us to grow toward true maturity.
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Counselors addressing
Adult Issues:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Aging/Aging Alone
Are you isolated and depressed in your older years? Or do you remain passionately involved in life? Many older adults are frightened by the stigma of aging with its negative associations. Aging is not only difficult to accept, but it is physically hard and challenges your self-image. Concerns include poverty, sudden onset of illness/disease, loss of friends, loss of transportation, etc. If you’re aging alone, “Who is going to take care of me?” is a pressing concern. This special work is deeply personal and solution oriented. It requires practical help from someone who understands this stage in life.
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Counselors addressing
Aging Issues:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Anxiety & Panic
Anxiety and panic disorder are epidemic in our fast-moving culture. Having the skill to move confidently through life’s challenges requires excellent coping strategies and good self-esteem. Symptoms of anxiety and panic often begin in childhood or young adulthood and may go untreated for years, causing avoidance of difficult situations. Symptoms include extreme worry and overthinking, a racing heart, sweating, overwhelm, and avoidance. Anxiety often leads to crippling panic attacks and irrational thinking. Useful tools include relaxation techniques, breathing and grounding exercises, challenging anxious thoughts, positive self-talk, and other cognitive behavioral exercises.
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Counselors addressing
Anxiety and Panic:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Co-Dependency
Co-dependence is the term used to describe the dysfunctional coping strategies used by people who grew up in alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional families. The more common feelings or behavior patterns include changing who you are to please others, feeling responsible for meeting others needs at the expense of your own, low self esteem, compulsive behavior and denial.
Therapy can often be helpful in normalizing and working through the painful patterns of co-dependent behavior and help clients to learn more effective and functional ways of taking care of themselves.
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Counselors addressing
issues of Codependency:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Co-Parenting Education
Divorced parents are challenged to continue parenting together when their own relationship is dissolving or completely severed and highly conflictual. Understanding the impact of divorce on children and putting their needs first is core to building a cooperative co-parenting team. Co-parents can learn how to avoid the pitfalls of loyalty binds, bad mouthing and confusion arising from different parenting styles and rules. Basic tools help parents manage and defuse hurt feelings, set healthy boundaries and communicate in ways that reduce conflict and increase safety. |
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Counselor addressing
issues of Co-Parenting
Education:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
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Couples
Relationships can be very rewarding when they are going well. When relationships become troubled, they can be very painful, and can lead to feelings of anger, frustration, disappointment, self-doubt and hopelessness. Sometimes couples have a clear idea what does not work in their relationship, and want assistance in developing an action plan to address particular issues. At other times, it is hard for them to know what is not working; it just feels that the relationship has lost its attraction and good feeling. Communication problems are common and often lead to further misunderstanding.
Couples counseling can help each person better understand what is going on with oneself and the other person, as well as what is happening between them. It provides a healing format for resolving past hurts and misunderstandings. Learning new communication skills is often a central ingredient. Feeling heard and respected by the other person, developing better ways of dealing with problems, healing old wounds, and coming to mutual decisions can lay a strong foundation for developing a more pleasant and satisfying relationship.
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Counselors addressing
Couples issues:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Depression
Depression comes in two basic forms: situational or clinical. In situational depression one can usually identify a stressor or stressors that lead to the sense of feeling down. Clinical depression, on the other hand, has at its root a biological/chemical component. Both types of depression can benefit greatly from therapy; however, people suffering from the latter type additionally may need an evaluation by a doctor to determine possible supplement or medication treatment.
Typical symptoms of either type of depression are: increased or decreased sleep and/or appetite, low energy, self-loathing, irritability, hopelessness, and/or thoughts of ending one's life. There are many variations within depression, including anxiety or manic stages that alter the picture and may make detection of what is really going on difficult and confusing. Please consult a physician, mental health professional, or literature to find out more. |
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Counselors addressing
issues of Depression:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Grief & Loss
Experiencing grief and loss is part of every human journey. Feelings that may accompany this life transition include sadness, fear, anger, confusion, or numbness. An individual's needs can vary a great deal when responding to a loss; sometimes requiring space and privacy, other times needing contact and companionship. The response to a loss may happen soon after the event or be delayed for a long time. Current losses may bring up memories from long ago experiences. Depression is a common component of the grieving process, and sometimes requires professional help. Individual therapy or a group focused around the issues of grief and loss can help provide needed support. |
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Counselors addressing
issues of Grief & Loss:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Meditation & Calming Techniques
Meditative tools can be useful adjuncts to the psychotherapy process. Meditation invites an inner focus, pausing from the usual habits of our thinking/feeling selves to allow for a settling and deepening. Though turmoil within may be felt more keenly, a calming effect may also arise as we settle into the truth of our inner experience. The breath is often used as an object of attention in meditation, encouraging an attunement to the simplicity of a felt-sense; a trust in our own mind/body experience.
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Counselors addressing
Meditation & Calming:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Millennials (ages 18-29)
The transition to adulthood has lengthened, and young adults are getting married and having children later. Emerging adults are diverse in their educational and occupational
goals––more of them attending graduate school or having greater responsibility in technology and corporate management. This is a period of instability without relationship or career certainty. Many millennials have uncertain living situations––they travel weekly, spend time in hotels, live alone, or live with parents. They may be bored with their job and aspire to something more meaningful, or may be upper management while still in their twenties. Millennials often seek therapy for anxiety, isolation, a demanding lifestyle, job and work stress, relationship issues, and differentiation from parents.
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Counselors addressing
Millennial Issues:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
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Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness is an inherent part of Buddhist practice and refers to the non-judgmental focus on the here and now. As Buddhism and particularly Buddhist Psychology have become increasingly popular in the West, many mental health professionals have seen the value of this practice for general wellbeing as well as for addressing such difficult conditions as Posttraumatic Stress and general anxiety. Your therapist can guide you into developing an inner witness that observes your thoughts and feelings, other people and outer events without criticizing them. From that position, a more wholesome ability to respond awakens. |
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Counselors addressing
Mindfulness:
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Online / E-Therapy
Changes in technology and communication and specific needs of emerging adults require faster and easier ways to do psychotherapy. Today, some therapists offer messaging, phone, and/or video sessions. For certain population groups (busy millennials, homebound seniors, people living remote or lacking transportation) online therapy fills an essential niche in the mental health field. Common issues are anxiety and depression, relationships, help with social skills, and lack of self-confidence. Many clients are looking for cognitive behavioral tools and are short term. Others make the commitment to long-term self-exploration.
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Counselors addressing
Online / E-Therapy:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
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Parenting Support
The parenting task brings with it a combination of, what appear to be, opposite feelings; tremendous joy, profound disappointment, inspiration, hopelessness, energy and exhaustion to name a few examples. Feelings usually run strong. A couple may find themselves encountering challenges in communication, intimacy, and values that did not arise before the couple was transformed into a family. The parenting models we experienced growing up in our own families may not satisfy our visions for ourselves as parents. Therapy can help provide support to parents who are overwhelmed or stressed, or provide a safe place to explore the tremendous opportunity for growth that becoming a parent offers. |
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Counselors addressing
Parenting Support:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Premarital Counseling
We offer the opportunity for "young" (not necessarily in age) couples to look at their values, goals, and beliefs; to explore how families of origin may either aid or hamper in the development of true interdependence and intimacy; and we teach comprehensive listening and communication tools that will make the merging of two lives easier and more heartfelt.
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Counselors addressing
Premarital Counseling:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Psychological Astrology
Astrology can help cultivate a witness self that transforms the inner critic to sacred witness. As a language of the inner self and its relation to the outer world, Astrology provides a natural complement to the psychotherapeutic process. The astrological metaphor can be understood as a tool, another way to view the dilemmas we face, and a way to connect to universal themes that bring us into relationship with others and the human journey in general.
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Counselors addressing
Psychological Astrology:
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Relationship & Marriage
The high divorce rate of the last 30 years is a reflection of the drastic changes our society has undergone during that time. Relationships, whether newly formed or seasoned, whether with or without children, whether hetero- or homosexual, face problems and challenges that can be overwhelming. In recent years much research has been done on what makes couples work well together and stay together. Therapy can teach partners detailed skills to enhance the relationship. It also can look at dysfunctional patterns that have their roots in childhood and use the relationship to heal old wounds.
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Counselors addressing
issues of Relationship &
Marriage:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Self-Esteem & Inner Critic
Self-esteem may be defined as the way one holds or values herself/himself in relation to others and the world. Self-esteem is developed through parental acceptance and respect, healthy parental limits, and an early environment supportive of individual autonomy. Good self-esteem is indicated by self-acceptance, a healthy self-concept and reasonable expectations of self and others. High self-esteem individuals feel effective, capable, and loving. Low self-esteem leads to feeling ineffective, incapable, and unlovable. Feelings of low self-esteem are not reality based, but grounded in internalized rejecting and critical messages. Self-esteem is a pervasive theme in therapy because it is intimately related to how we function and how we are in relationship. |
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Counselors addressing
issues of Self-Esteem:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Separation & Divorce
Were you suddenly and unexpectedly left by your spouse? Is your partner having an affair? Does he/she want a divorce but you’re not ready? People who are going through this life transition often feel shaken to their core, as the separation and divorce process has a huge emotional impact on everyone involved. Divorce is very often isolating and stigmatizing. Divorcing adults and their children need to be listened to and need validation from someone who understands their experience. Issues of betrayal and rejection, injured self-esteem, lack of closure, financial/lifestyle changes and co-parenting intensify the emotional process. Individual, couple, and group therapy may all be supportive treatment approaches during this very challenging life transition.
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Counselors addressing
issues of Separation &
Divorce:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Shyness & Social Anxiety
Do you fear or simply avoid social situations because of shame, anxiety, and a sense of deep inadequacy? A personal history of ridicule, shame, childhood bullying and/or extreme criticism is often behind social anxiety. Isolation and avoidance may have become a way for you to cope—but a lonely way. Shyness and social anxiety are deeply intertwined with self-esteem and a ruthless inner critic. Clients say that they feel "weird, isolated, and very different from everyone else." To learn that this condition has a clinical diagnosis and is treatable through one-on-one therapy can come as a huge relief.
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Counselors addressing
issues of Shyness &
Social Anxiety:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Spirituality
Spirituality is defined as that which is intangible or non-material. It relates to matters of the soul. Most people ask themselves at some point in their lives the questions: "Who am I? Where do I come from? And where am I going?" Personal and cultural histories, which are tangible, bring a lot of information to these questions. But usually these questions address a deeper level, namely an urge to have a sense of one's overall place in life, to find meaning in life's unfolding, and to know oneself as an integral part of a larger whole. Without offering definite answers, therapy is a wonderful vehicle into the realm of the soul, aiding each individual in discovering his or her own inner truths. |
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Counselors addressing
issues of Spirituality:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Teens
Adolescence is a challenging time for both teens and their parents. For teens, it is a period of rapid intellectual, social, and emotional change as they struggle to move from dependent child to independent adult. For parents, it is a time when their children take risks and experiment while learning the skills necessary to become autonomous adults. This transition period can be a scary and volatile time for both parent and child. Parents often need to learn how to communicate and support their teen in a different and more age appropriate way than they did when they were children. Children often need help learning assertiveness, responsibility, and decision-making so they can make the transition safely. Therapy can provide a neutral and supportive environment to navigate these issues.
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Counselors addressing
Teen issues:
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Women's Issues
Many women find that they have issues in common stemming from the culture in which they are raised, or find that some of their personal struggles are related to the way in which they are raised as women. Women often find it difficult to develop the parts of themselves that have traditionally been seen as masculine, such as being independent, self-assured, competitive or standing up for their own interests, and often feel confined by roles that are traditionally feminine. They may struggle to find a balance between embracing the feminine parts of themselves that are of value and allowing themselves to develop beyond cultural expectations. Psychotherapy can be effective in offering women a forum in which to explore their predicament, challenge roles that they do not
want to embrace and to move forward in ways that are more satisfying.
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Counselors addressing
Women's issues:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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Workplace Stress
Numerous studies indicate that job stress is a major problem for American adults and young adults. Stress in the workplace is rapidly escalating, especially in the competitive worlds of high tech, corporate management, startups, entertainment, and public relations. Because of the aggressive nature encouraged by many executives, demands on workers often exceed their ability to feel in control. Excessive pressure leads not only to heart attacks and hypertension, but to severe mental and emotional overload.
Overwhelming stress affects all aspects of a person’s life. We, as therapists, support ongoing stress management by teaching a wide variety of mind and body techniques, such as healthy stress responses, appropriate boundaries, calming and relaxation techniques, positive self-talk and good self-care, time management, scheduling techniques, and restoring balance in all areas of your life.
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Counselors addressing
Workplace Stress:
Shonnie Brown, MFT
Shoshona Pascoe, MFT
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