Counseling, Mediation, and Consultation
If you are hoping to make some changes in your own life, individualized services that are tailored to meet your needs are often a good place to start.
Some people use these terms interchangeably, while others draw a distinction between counseling and therapy. Counseling is sometimes seen as the less intensive of the two, and may include things such as helping you cope with life changes, learn new skills, and make decisions. Therapy is sometimes seen as a more intensive process, to include such things as treating a mental illness, or helping you to make changes in your personality. I do not see a bright line between these processes, and often my clients will actually want some of each--for instance, help with their depression, and learning how to address relationship problems; or learning anger management skills, and exploring why they are so often angry. Whether you are looking for counseling, therapy, or both, I work with you one-on-one to explore your concerns, chart a course for personal change, and move towards your goals. If you choose individual counseling or therapy, you can expect to meet privately with me, and to focus intently on making desired changes in your life.
If you want to resolve a conflict, but the other party does not seem open to doing so, conflict coaching may be helpful. Most people want to resolve conflicts, and if both parties are willing, mediation is generally preferable. But if the other party does not want to engage in such a process, I can work with you individually to examine your role in perpetuating the conflict, learn new conflict resolution skills, and make decisions about how to manage a conflict, or to minimize its impact on your life.
Sometimes my clients do not need to work with me on an ongoing basis, but require an assessment or evaluation, generally for a third party, like probation or the courts. Some common types of assessments include mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence. If you need an assessment, you should find out as much as you can about what the third party wants to know about you, and what type of report they will need. The scope (and cost) of your evaluation will depend on what the end product will be, however I will typically meet with you once or twice to gather information and complete my assessment, then write up a report to send to the third party.