Our counselors provide therapy in Bethlehem, PA

Erin: I work from a cognitive behavioral approach to help individuals assess the evidence for their thoughts and explore how these thoughts impact the way they feel. I also utilize mindfulness techniques to help clients learn to identify what they are thinking, feeling, and experiencing in the here and now to enhance awareness and emotional regulation. Finally, I utilize behavioral activation techniques to help clients break down their goals into manageable steps and create reward patterns to reinforce progress made over time.

Jami: My go-to approach for helping people in individual therapy is assisting them in developing deeper insight into themselves: who they are, why they are the way they are, and what makes them “tick.” We then take that new insight and build upon it with actionable goals and changes toward their more fulfilled, desired life!

Erin: In therapy, I teach about the following:

• Identifying distorted thinking patterns
• The stages of change: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance
• Reframing interpretations
• Challenging inaccurate core beliefs
• Mindfulness techniques
• Emotional regulation techniques
• Thinking through the consequences
• Practicing gratitude
• Reflecting on progress made
• Setting boundaries
• Growth vs. fixed mindsets
• Noticing and accepting
• Exposure and desensitizing

Jami: I teach the following tools in individual therapy:

• Emotional intelligence: How to recognize, identify, and truly feel your feelings. This can include learning new vocabulary, learning mindfulness, learning healthy ways to cope with emotions, etc.
• Self-reflection: Gaining skills to be able to sit back, think, and identify the root or purpose behind your actions, feelings, or thoughts, then use them as fuel for change and self-understanding rather than beating ourselves down or shoving our feelings down where they will later explode in other ways.
• Communication: Learning how to use effective, healthy communication, which also includes healthy confrontation. This can be within the workplace, with a spouse or partner, or in parenting your children.

Erin: I know a client is making meaningful progress in a number of ways. One, I can tell by how they are talking about their experiences. Clients begin naturally reframing and improving the accuracy of their interpretations. Two, meaningful progress is made when clients report that they are feeling better overall for a consistent period of time. Three, meaningful progress is made when they are following through on intentional changes that produce real improvements to their quality of life.

Jami: I know a client is making meaningful progress in individual therapy when they come to sessions with new insight they gained independently or leave sessions with new insight from our talk. Meaningful progress can also be the successful use of new tools/coping skills or reporting feeling happier, more content, or more confident.

Erin: Clients can supplement their time in individual therapy by exploring additional resources that support their therapeutic agenda such as reading books and listening to podcasts. It is also helpful when clients journal to track what they are experiencing day to day in order to provide accurate information on the experiences they are having and any changes that may take place between sessions.

Jami: Clients can supplement their time in individual therapy by taking notes in sessions and reviewing them between visits to keep info and goals fresh, practicing new skills learned in sessions between visits, and journaling. There are also a lot of great mental health podcasts and self-help books from experts in the field that can be a great addition to therapy!

Erin: To prepare for your first individual therapy session, you can think about what you would like to work toward in your sessions and what you are hoping to get out of the experience. Most importantly though, therapy welcomes you as you are!

Jami: To prepare for your first individual therapy session, you can take some time to ground yourself, reflect on why you're going and what you want to accomplish, find a calm/quiet/private space to hold your session if virtual, and take a deep breath. It may feel hard or scary at first, but investing in yourself is the best decision you can make!