Adult Counseling

Individual, Couples, & More

Learn more about Couples Therapy at Amy Wine Counseling Center

Adult Counseling

It is not uncommon at times to be met with challenges or situations you are not quite equipped to handle on your own. Maybe you are going through some sort of major life transition, like the loss of a loved one, a divorce, or career disruption. Perhaps you are having difficulty in your relationship, burdened by a traumatic life experiences, or struggling with the repeated patterns of behavior. Any of these situations can prevent you from finding the peace and joy you deserve.

Whatever your personal reasons for seeking counseling, it is likely you are here because you have come to a place in your life where you feel like a change needs to be made. That could mean learning to better cope with your current thoughts and feelings, or working through past trauma. You may find yourself experiencing unexpectedly intense emotions, like anxiety or depression, that you simply don’t understand, or are having difficulty managing. Counseling empowers you to make the kind of changes that will help you free yourself of limits and reach your highest potential.

In a safe, nonjudgmental setting, you will learn to manage your intense and painful emotions, while regaining your confidence and self-esteem. You will have the opportunity to overcome traumatic life events and break self-defeating patterns of thought and behavior. With my guidance as an experienced counselor, you can heal the obstacles to your personal growth.

One of the only things you can be certain of is that life is full of change. Often that change comes without any warning or notice. When you are confronted with high stress, feeling confused, numb, and overly emotional are common reactions. Feeling this way can lead you to lose your rational perspective and this often leads to poor decision-making or an inability to see options. Counseling can support you in moving beyond your confusion and pain. Together we can sort through your experience, helping you gain a sense of how you got where you are, what to do right now, and what to do next. By coming to understand what your life looks like after the changes you’ve experienced, you can renew your sense of purpose, and find fulfillment in your life as it is today.

The way you set up your relationships comes out of your experience with parents, siblings, extended family members, and other people who have influenced you. When you establish relationships outside the family, you tend to bring this model-and all the stresses and struggles that go with it-along with you. This can create obstacles to your happiness, and even sabotage the quality of your relationships with others. When trying to manage the kind of emotional set-ups you bring into your current relationships, breaking free of old patterns and power struggles can be challenging. While you may have worked hard to overcome your past experiences, they may still be haunting you. Together we can break down your past experience and find tools to help you release the anger, resentment, and sadness of the past, helping you create strong, positive relationships now and in the future. You will learn healthy ways of thinking that will replace your previous thoughts. This will lead you to a more secure experience and happier life.

Trauma is any negative experience you’ve had that was unexpected, prolonged, and overwhelming. These kinds of experiences change the way you see the world. Wounds from traumatic experiences are often difficult to heal, leading to overwhelming inner pain. Although you may have tried to forget the experience, and rationalize the wounds away, the pain and trauma do not simply disappear. When your trauma is a secret, this pain can be even heavier. Despite this immediate burden, you can move beyond a traumatic life experience and heal your suffering. Working together, we will find ways for you to resolve the painful, recurring thoughts and feelings consuming you. You will learn to alleviate your feelings of anxiety, depression, and anger, replacing them with a sense of hope and renewed peace of mind.

If you have any questions about Amy Wine Counseling and our therapeutic services feel free to call Amy Wine Counseling Center at (832) 421-8714 or contact us here.

EMDR Therapy

So many of us find ourselves lying awake in bed at night replaying conversations from days, months or years ago. After something really bad happens, it’s common to feel the same level of fear, anxiety or sadness as you did that moment. Sometimes we find ourselves feeling stuck, trapped, or caught up in never-ending replays, flashbacks, or nightmares long after a traumatic experience in our lives, causing us to feel like we can never escape. We end up missing out on opportunities in life because we know we will feel overwhelmed, like we are a burden, or that we are going to make the same mistakes over and over again. Extreme guilt may overwhelm us, keeping us from feeling like we can try again. Performance anxiety may keep us from wanting to try anything in the first place. Grief may surround us as we see our pain everywhere we look, completely tainting the way we interact with the entire world. Do you fear that you’ll never have a “normal” life, or that there’s no solution to your suffering? Are you wanting more from “talk therapy”, seeking a new approach to counseling?

Sometimes in our lives, the deck is stacked against us. We experience anxiety, trauma, phobias, you name it. Maybe you’ve sought advice from the internet or peers, getting suggestions like “time heals all” or “just don’t think about it”. It’s inevitable that suggestions like these will underdeliver. Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of psychotherapy that helps individuals process intense emotions and/or painful events. When a person experiences intense emotion or a tough event, their brain cannot process information as it should. The moment becomes “stuck”. For some people, the memory of that moment is just as terrifying, sad and/or scary as it was when they first experienced it, causing the person to feel like they’re in that moment all over again.

EMDR is a process that helps you to feel “unstuck” and push past intense emotions and/or painful events. Think of breaking your arm and never going to the doctor – the bone would heal, but not properly. You’d experience discomfort and pain every time you put too much pressure on your arm. You could choose to go to the doctor and have your arm set – broken in a strategical way – for it to then heal properly. This is what EMDR does for your mind. This is accomplished through several techniques that directly impact the way the brain processes information. Once normal processing is resumed, a person no longer relives the images, sounds, and feelings when the event is brought to mind. The event is simply a neutral thought like any other. (FACT CHECK: EMDR does not tamper with your memory, but helps make recalling troubling memories less upsetting).

Through EMDR, you can experience a decrease in all of those unpleasant symptoms, allowing you to experience a fuller, more optimal quality of life.

If you would like to learn more about EMDR or book a session with an EMDR-trained counselor, call Amy Wine Counseling Center at (832) 421-8714.