Discover how starting family therapy can support your own journey toward a happier, more fulfilling life.
7 therapists available in Charleston
My aim is to help my clients figure out what is keeping them from realizing their goals and working with them to identify strategi...
About
My aim is to help my clients figure out what is keeping them from realizing their goals and working with them to identify strategies for overcoming those obstacles.
Abdul is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) who specializes in working with adults who are seeking help with depression, anxiety, bereavement, and substance use disorders. He helps them transform their lives by learning to think about their lives in new and less hurtful ways.
Abdul holds a master’s degree in social work from Howard University’s School of Social Work. Prior to getting his MSW, he was working at an outpatient community mental health center and working on getting certified as an addiction counselor. He employs a variety of techniques including psychoeducation, motivational interviewing, Socratic questioning, and unconditional positive regard. His treatment orientation is heavily influenced by rational emotive and cognitive approaches. Abdul always aims to help clients understand what they want from their lives and to motivate them to achieve those goals.
Abdul's practice is rooted in humanism, the belief that people are self-motivated to pursue their own happiness. He sees his role as a guide who can support you on your journey toward happiness. Abdul accepts that all people are unique, with unique biology, chemistry, life stories, and life goals all their own. He understands that not everyone gets the same start in life and that each of us is uniquely shaped by the challenges and opportunities we encounter in our families of origin, our communities, and our society at large.
Abdul's goal as a professional is to support you as you strive for happiness and help you identify challenges and develop skills to overcome them. Ultimately, he believes that each person he meets is on a quest, searching for a rewarding, meaningful, and fulfilling life. His role is simply to help you get to your destination. "Noted psychiatrist and addiction expert Gabor Maté said that only when compassion is present can healing truly take place. My goal is to be that compassionate presence in your life as you work to understand yourself, identify the source of your unhappiness, and work with you to discover the happiness and life satisfaction that you deserve," says Abdul.
Education and training
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I am here to provide support, teach skills, and assist you with navigating through life challenges....
I am here to provide support, teach skills, and assist you with navigating through life challenges.
Luciana Smalls is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) who has 7 years of experience in the mental health field. Luciana enjoys working with individuals, families, and couples dealing with stress, life challenges, grief, and communication challenges. She has diverse experience working with individuals and families with addiction, self-esteem, anxiety, foster care, kinship care, military families, medical challenges, stress, and time management.
Luciana completed her Bachelor of Science (BS) in Human Services at Springfield College, graduating with honors. She completed her Master of Science (MS) in Professional Mental Health Counseling at Webster University.
Luciana has a mission to help individuals create a healthy lifestyle from utilizing community resources, learning tools, becoming adaptive, and using assertive communication.
Drawing from my journey with anxiety, self-esteem, and postpartum challenges, I am dedicated to helping both men and women find st...
Drawing from my journey with anxiety, self-esteem, and postpartum challenges, I am dedicated to helping both men and women find strength and balance in their lives.
Leanee Marsh is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate with 1 year of experience in counseling and 6 years of experience as an educator. Her ideal clients are individuals and couples who feel overwhelmed by anxiety, struggle with self-worth, or are navigating the emotional complexities and adjustments in life. Her clients seek compassionate support to regain confidence, develop coping skills, and build a healthier, more balanced mindset. They grow within a safe, nonjudgmental space, where Leanee provides them with a supportive environment to explore their feelings and challenges, allowing them to flourish.
Leanee earned a Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Walden University and is also a National Certified Counselor. Her counseling sessions incorporate mindfulness, motivational interviewing, coping skills development, and emotional regulation to help clients build resilience and self-awareness.
When you're ready to take the first step towards improving your well-being and personal growth, reaching out for support can make all the difference. Let's connect and begin your journey toward healing and empowerment because you deserve support that meets you where you are.
Adam Sachs is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Nationally-Certified Counselor (LPC, NCC) with more than 6 years of experience...
Adam Sachs is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Nationally-Certified Counselor (LPC, NCC) with more than 6 years of experience. He works with adults, couples, families, and children age 12 and older who are experiencing problems related to depression, anxiety, AD/HD, anger, substance abuse, relationships, work, parenting, and stress management.
He especially likes working with people and couples who commit to their treatment and goals, show courage and persistence in their pursuit, and strive to see a big picture for their life and to feel fully alive.
You may recognize your feelings or problems. But you may have difficulty identifying the root causes. Adam will help you examine beneath the surface to gain more insight and clarity, promoting healing, change, and progress. He will create an environment of safety, trust, curiosity, and acceptance as you explore challenging emotions and issues, and foster your hopes and dreams.
Adam recognizes the courage it takes to acknowledge you are struggling and want help. He encourages you to take the step to make an initial appointment. He will consider it his honor to work with you. Adam will commit to doing his best to meet you where you are in your life and help set you on your path to where you want to go.
Sarah Hudgins is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of South Carolina. She has experience in a variety of therapeutic ...
Sarah Hudgins is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of South Carolina. She has experience in a variety of therapeutic environments including an intensive medical outpatient facility, a college counseling and substance abuse treatment center, and a private practice setting. Sarah specializes in providing individual and couples counseling for adults who are seeking help with anxiety, anger management, relationship issues, depression, stress management, assertiveness training, and self-esteem.
In a non-judgmental, respectful atmosphere, Sarah thrives to assist clients along their journeys to living meaningful, more satisfying lives. Sarah encourages and facilitates clients to broaden their awareness of their thoughts, feelings, reactions, and behaviors. Sarah utilizes a cognitive-behavioral approach in therapy, along with solution-focused and motivational interviewing techniques, uniquely catered to individual goals and needs.
Sarah strives to establish a trusting relationship where individual needs, experiences, and goals can be explored and worked on without fear. Sarah believes we each have the innate ability for personal development that is enhanced when we feel we are in a safe and supportive relationship. Sarah offers support, understanding, and guidance with the use of practical tools, to assist clients in meeting their desired goals for themselves, both personally and within relationships.
Nancy Lloyd is a Licensed Professional Counselor who specializes in relationship issues, grief and loss, life transitions, depress...
Nancy Lloyd is a Licensed Professional Counselor who specializes in relationship issues, grief and loss, life transitions, depression, eating disorders, trauma, recovery from substance abuse, anxiety, gender issues, and symptom management for chronic problems. She has gained experience both in private practice and community mental health services after graduating from The Citadel Graduate College in 2010. Nancy primarily works with adults but has notable experience with adolescents and children when providing interventions for families. She also has a decade of experience as an Adjunct Psychology Instructor and has a passion for providing psychoeducational information as an important supplement to understanding ourselves and our brains.
Nancy is a general practitioner with the ability to provide evidence-based interventions (CBT, TFCBT, DBT, MI, REBT, ACT, or Crisis Intervention for instance) for a very wide scope of acute and chronic conditions. She’s able to accommodate clients who prefer more supportive services to simply process life situations or reach goals. Interested in learning skills to be more aware of your dreams? She’s had experience with that, too. She prioritizes a humanistic approach as a compassionate and non-judgmental foundation to support the alliance between her and her clients and encourage the best possible therapeutic outcomes.
When someone feels genuinely understood, crisis will dissipate some and he or she can feel supported to make decisions or changes in a safe way… maybe even with a little humor and wit. Engagement in therapy is very sacred work that merits a soulful reverence for each client who decides to seek help. So, if you want a clinically-trained therapist who can also speak in terms of spiritual and personal growth from many philosophical perspectives effectively, give Nancy a try.
My approach is grounded in providing a safe, nonjudgmental space that encourages an open expression of thoughts and feelings with ...
My approach is grounded in providing a safe, nonjudgmental space that encourages an open expression of thoughts and feelings with caring support and guidance.
Mary E. Belk is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in treating adolescents, adults, and seniors coping with difficult life transitions, relationship struggles, grief, depression, anxiety, mood disorders, and behavioral concerns. She enjoys working with clients to uncover the root causes of their challenges and develop tailored strategies to overcome them. Mary has worked in settings including hospice care, nursing homes, hospitals, and community health clinics.
Mary graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Master’s in Social Work. She uses evidence-based techniques and approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy and client-centered interventions to help clients gain insight into their experiences, build resilience, and adopt healthy coping skills.
Mary is committed to being a trusted partner with her clients as they navigate their journey of healing and self-discovery. Through personalized treatment plans with objectives and interventions to meet each individual's goals, Mary looks forward to supporting you!
You deserve dedicated time with a mental health professional — it can be life-changing.
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My go-to approach to family therapy is to assess and understand the current family dynamics. The goal of family therapy is often to improve the functioning of the family unit as opposed to one individual person in the family. I combine family therapy techniques in order to reduce any conflict within the family, helping them learn better ways to communicate with one another and allowing the family the space to begin working on healthy problem-solving skills. My role as the family therapist is to foster better relationships within the family unit.
Tools that I teach in family therapy include:
I will know a family is making meaningful progress when they have displayed healthy ways of communicating with one another, are expressing emotions, have minimal conflict, and show the ability to support one another through challenges.
In their personal time, families can supplement family therapy by making time for one another, planning activities that all members can enjoy, being open about the emotions they are feeling, and setting healthy boundaries within the family unit.
To prepare for family therapy, please make sure that all members of the family are aware of the appointment beforehand. Blindsiding a family member about therapy can seem like an attack, and we do not want to shame anyone from coming to therapy. Feel free to begin to think about goals that you want to accomplish with your family in order for things to get better.
Family therapy helps families resolve conflicts and strengthen their relationships. It is led by qualified mental health professionals like psychologists, licensed professional counselors (LPCs), and licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs) who have extensive training in family dynamics and group communication.
Thriveworks family therapists in Charleston, SC usually begin by asking what everyone’s goals are for family counseling. Family members may need help with very specific issues or with general relationship functioning. But there are three main purposes in family counseling: to educate, to counsel, and to strengthen. Thriveworks also offers online family therapy and in-person services, so you may all meet in an office together or join a video call from your home depending on everyone’s location and availability.
The most effective form of Family therapy will often depend on the family itself, as there are many types of family therapy for therapists to use as they see fit in order to best meet the needs of their clients. However, one of the most commonly used types of family therapy is structural family therapy (SFT). SFT focuses specifically on family dynamics and interactions, looking at how they shape the relationships and structure present in the family. It can be effectively used to treat a variety of concerns.
This answer often looks different to each family that starts family therapy. However, some signs that your family might need to consider family counseling include frequent fights or misunderstandings, constant tension, experiencing loss, behavioral issues, marital issues, divorce, and blended family issues, among others.
In family therapy, therapists will often start by asking questions and assessing individual and family dynamics. From there, they may employ therapeutic techniques such as structured family therapy, CBT, strategic family therapy, and more depending on the present concerns and conflicts. From there, a therapist will work to open lines of communication between family members and facilitate emotional healing and growth.
Family therapy can be incredibly successful, with some studies reporting a success rate of almost 90% for improving participants’ emotional and mental health, and around 66% for improving their physical health.
Thriveworks therapists in Charleston, SC offer both online family therapy and in-person family therapy. We encourage you to choose the option that works best for you.
Family therapy is usually short term and solution-focused, with most families accomplishing their goals in 12 sessions or fewer. However, it can also last for longer if the probles at hand are more complex — and that’s okay, too.
When each family member contributes in a meaningful way and each member’s needs are met, families can be wonderful. But everyone knows families do not always work like that. Achieving harmony is challenging, and at times, it can feel nearly impossible. Here are just a few of the ways life can throw families off balance:
The family therapists at Thriveworks Charleston know that every family needs a little help along the way. Our counselors love helping family work through their challenges together, preserve every individual’s mental health, and grow closer throughout the process. If this sounds like something you’re interested in or could benefit from, reach out to Thriveworks Charleston today.
Family therapy is built upon the foundational idea that people’s behaviors, beliefs, and identities are developed within their families of origin. Therefore, understanding an individual fully involves understanding their family.
Family structural therapy and family systems therapy are the most well-known techniques used in family therapy. These techniques explore how a family copes with stress, offers comfort, sets expectations, and defines their values. These family functions significantly impact each individual member’s life. Other mitigating factors in a family’s dynamic may be each member’s love language, personality type, and/or birth order. Understanding each person and understanding the family as a whole may help the family work together to overcome life’s challenges.
The goal of therapy is for families to experience interdependence—i.e., each member is respected both individually and within the group. Strong individuals may mean strong families, and strong families may mean strong individuals.
These are only a few of the reasons clients have started family therapy at Thriveworks Charleston:
There is no easy path to overcome these common challenges, but when families are ready to work together, they can acknowledge unhealthy patterns, empathize with one another, and find a way to thrive. Let us help. Reach out to Thriveworks Charleston.
The therapists at Thriveworks Charleston understand that families face real challenges that could tear them apart. But our therapists also understand that with the right support and guidance, families can grow closer together.
Thriveworks Charleston is ready to help. When you call to make an appointment for family therapy, a scheduling specialist will answer your call. We have convenient appointment times available, including nights and weekends. We also work with many insurance plans! This is part of our mission to best serve all of our clients. Call Thriveworks Charleston to set up your appointment for family therapy when you are ready. We’ll be here.
Includes individual, couples, child/ teen, & family therapy
Includes reducing symptoms with medication & management
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