| Q. |
What is Pastoral Counseling? |
| A. |
Pastoral Counseling is very much like
other types of counseling you might obtain from a psychotherapist except
Pastoral Counseling seeks to bring healing by integrating the natural connection
between the physical, mental and spiritual dimensions. Pastoral Counselors
value religious and spiritual resources equally with the insights and practice
of behavioral science. |
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| Q. |
What if I’m not a religious person? |
| A. |
Pastoral Counseling respects a person’s
spiritual beliefs, including those who espouse no religion.
Pastoral Counselors do not attempt to convert anyone to a particular set
of beliefs but rather strive to meet each person’s needs in a supportive
manner. |
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Marriage and Family Therapy
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| Q. |
Do I have to be married to go to a marriage
and family therapist? |
| A. |
No – Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT)
is based on scientific findings that individuals and their problems
are best seen in context and the most influential one is family.
MFT’s are trained in both psychotherapy and family systems and focus on
interactional patterns with family, friends and situations which may
contribute to the problem. |
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| Q. |
What if my family/partner won’t come
to sessions? |
| A. |
Therapy can still be effective. Family
systems research has shown that one motivated person can change, not only
personal, but family dynamics for the better. |
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| Q. |
Yes, but how effective is counseling
by a MFT? |
| A. |
In a study by Doherty & Simmons (1996)
clients rated Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) as follows:
98.1% rated services good
or excellent
97.1% got the kind of help they
needed
96.9% would recommend their therapist
to a friend
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| Q. |
What if I start therapy and then my
partner decides to seek therapy? Does he/she have to find a different
therapist? |
| A. |
MFT’s are often in the unique position,
due to training and theoretical approach, of seeing more than one member
of the family in the course of couple or family therapy. Strict confidentiality
ethics are observed exchange of information cannot occur without written
consent. Family therapy is effective precisely because the therapist
is able to include other family members in the therapy. |
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| Q. |
What is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization
and Reprocessing) |
| A. |
Trauma, or Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder occurs in a variety of situations and often remains locked within
the individual years after the event.
EMDR is an innovative clinical treatment
that has successfully helped over a million individuals who have survived
trauma, including sexual abuse, domestic violence, combat and crime. EMDR
is also useful in treating those who are unable to speak in front of groups,
as well as those who suffer from sports/school performance anxiety, phobias,
obsessive compulsive disorder and self esteem issues. Symptoms of trauma
include: fear, trembling, sweating, nausea, panic or anxiety, inability
to stop thinking about the event, nightmares, depression or change in personality.
EMDR is a complex method of psychotherapy
that integrates a range of therapeutic approaches with eye movements or
other forms of rhythmical stimulation that jump-start the brain's information
processing system. Because EMDR allows the brain to heal its psychological
problems at the same rate as the body heals physical aliments, it is unnecessary
to delve into decades-old personal history as time becomes irrelevant in
the EMDR therapy process.
The five most recent studies of trauma
victims receiving EMDR found that 84-90% no longer had post-traumatic stress
disorder after only three treatment sessions. There are, of course, those
who progress more slowly but that is entirely normal in the process.
Terry is a trained Level II EMDR therapist and and has practiced EMDR since 1996. |
