In the following paragraphs we attempt to describe our philosophy and treatment modalities. Please know these are at best an oversimplification of these concepts. Trauma, attachment, and counseling are deep fields with multiple opinions, theories, and applications. We encourage you to use this only as a way to supplement your own research.
Philosophy of Counseling:
When working with families and children it is our belief that change happens within the context of healing relationships. We provide direct counseling services that facilitate healing and promote healthy attachment. This can be done a number of ways and often involves both the child and caregiver. In addition to counseling, we provide consultation and education to caregivers and agencies to empower them to create healthy, healing home environments that will foster connection.
More about consultation services
When working with adults or adolescents, we focus first on increasing emotional regulation and tolerance for uncomfortable feelings. Until we can tolerate uncomfortable feelings, it is impossible to address the things that have hurt us. There are lots of ways to do this and these will be discussed with each client. Once a client feels ready, we began to address any underlying issues that continue to interfere with his or her life (i.e. trauma, attachment, addiction, mental illness, or grief to name a few). This work includes processing and making sense of the client’s experience, addressing unhealthy beliefs through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and processing traumatic information through EMDR (both modalities are described later). Then we focus on applying new beliefs and skills to current and future situations that may be triggering.
Models of Treatment
The counselors at Amarillo Professional Counseling and Consultation are educated in multiple models of counseling and will work with you to find the best fit. We have found the following to be the most appropriate for our work: