Counseling Services
Experienced Counselors
Mental Health Resources specializes in the treatment of depression, anxiety, alcohol, drugs, and dual diagnosis disorders. We provide various forms of mental health treatment to bring about positive changes in feelings, thoughts, attitudes and behaviors, as you learn new ways to view and cope with problems.
Group and individual counseling can also lead to personal growth as you develop insights about yourself, others and the events in your life.
Effective counseling requires open and honest communication between you and your therapist, but it is more than just talking. When you need help, you need to talk to an experienced, trained professional. MHR’s therapists have the expertise, experience and objectivity necessary to devise a treatment plan based on your particular needs. If you are sick and tired of living with depression, anxiety, alcohol, drugs or similar problems, it helps to have someone to talk with about how to start working out of these problems. A trained, objective, professional can help you sort through your thoughts, feelings and behaviors and facilitate the development of insights that will help you move through the stages of change.
Our therapists are trained to address the stressful problems we all face, such as depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug abuse, relationship issues, job stress, loss, trauma and chronic medical illness, to name a few. Our professional staff has over 100 years combined experience treating mental health disorders. We provide the following professional services:
Crisis Intervention or Urgent Appointments
Crisis Intervention or Urgent Appointments are available on a daily basis. We have trained professional staff on call to handle these emergency appointments. Typically these appointments are used in crisis situations, where the lack of contact with a trained mental health professional could result in hospitalization. They might best be thought of as hospital diversion appointments to be used when one faces unmanageable, overwhelming, potentially life threatening situations. Suicidal or homicidal thoughts would qualify. These are single session Assessments to help you develop a safety plan and to determine appropriate treatment options. These Urgent Appointments are for those individuals who are in a crisis and require more than individual therapy for stabilization and are seriously considering our Intensive Outpatient Program or any higher level of care. One of the goals of the assessment will be to determine if you can be safely treated in an outpatient setting. If it is determined that you require a higher level of care, such as hospitalization, we will also help to arrange that for you.
Medication Management
Medication Management appointments are designed for the Psychiatrist to monitor prescribed psychotropic medications, including response to treatment, side effects, doseages, etc. Results are monitored so that future decisions about medications can take into account what has happened before. Because this is an approach to medication decision-making driven by acceptable results, the patient’s needs and concerns are an integral part of the decision-making process. Medication management appointments will only be made following a Psychiatric Evaluation.
Individual Counseling
Individual Therapy is the most traditional form of psychotherapy and is designed to treat the needs of the individual. In individual counseling or therapy, a client meets one-on-one with a staff member, usually for forty five minute sessions, once a week. Such a working relationship may last for only a few sessions or may continue for much longer, depending on the needs of the client. Although talking to a counselor for the first time can feel awkward or embarrassing, many individuals access our services each year.
Most of the individuals in the landmark, large scale, Consumer Reports study, participated in individual therapy and 90% of those who sought therapy reported that it helped them and that the longer the therapy, the greater the benefits. Clients come to MHR for a wide range of reasons, hoping to feel and function better.
Common issues include: depression, general anxiety and stress, substance abuse, trauma, difficult childhood and family experiences (past and present), relationship issues, loss of relationships, anger management concerns, codependency, etc. Clients also come to MHR to work toward developing a better self-image, to explore existential themes (e.g. “What’s my purpose?” or “Why am I here?”), or to achieve personal growth.
Our approach to treatment is highly individualized, but may include both current and past experiences. No matter what the approach, the research is clear that the most important ingredient for effective therapy is the quality of the relationship between the therapist and client. Our therapists strive to provide a supportive environment in which our clients are able to work toward their unique goals.
Marital / Couples Therapy
Marital / Couples Therapy addresses issues and problems specific to couples. All couples experience conflict and tension that provide opportunities to strengthen their relationship. Common marital problems involve distance regulation, betrayal, managing anger, recurrent conflicts, sex, money and discipline of the children. Other frequent problems include facing life transitions, such as the arrival of new family members, empty nests, retirement, the loss of a child, etc. Couples therapy typically focuses on helping the couple develop new coping, communication and relationship skills, with the goals of resolving conflict and deepening intimacy. Couples therapy requires the presence of both partners, occurs once a week for a 45 minute session.
In addition to these joint sessions, your therapist may wish to meet with each individual separately for one or two sessions to gain a better understanding of each person’s history and development. Therapists do not take sides, keep secrets or referee fights. They do try to limit unproductive, angry and hysterical emotional displays.
Couples therapists work to provide a trustworthy and safe environment which can contain and manage couples’ anger, frustration and contempt. They promote calm problem solving. In general, they aim to provide a space in which it becomes possible for couples to step out of defensiveness and work on problems in a productive and rational manner. Therapy has shown to be an effective treatment modality.
Marriage and Family Counseling
Family Therapy is similar to couples therapy, except that it focuses on treating two or more members of a family. It helps families or individuals within a family understand and improve the way family members interact with each other and resolve conflicts. In family therapy, the whole family is viewed as a system that maintains and reinforces emotional and behavioral patterns. Family therapy might be appropriate when a divorce has occurred, when two families are joining together, when the family has suffered a loss or a trauma, or if one family member has a problem that is affecting everyone in the family. Working with a family therapist, you and your family will examine your family’s ability to solve problems and express thoughts and emotions. You may explore family roles, rules and behavior patterns in order to spot issues that contribute to conflict. Family therapy may help you identify your family’s strengths, such as caring for one another, and weaknesses, such as an inability to confide in one other. Research indicates that marriage and family therapy is as effective, and in some cases more effective than standard and/or individual treatments for many mental health problems such as: mood disorders, substance abuse, children’s conduct disorders, adolescent drug abuse, anorexia in young adult women, chronic physical illness in adults and children, and marital distress and conflict. Family therapy sessions may be longer than the usual 45 minutes and may be scheduled for 75-90 minutes, one time per week.
Group Counseling Sessions
Group Therapy addresses interpersonal problems and teaches coping skills for specific problems. There are many different forms of Group Therapy targeted to a variety of problems, including depression, anxiety, codependency, substance abuse, medical illnesses, etc. In all forms of group therapy, a group leader or facilitator meets with a small group of clients that form the group. Typically, a group may meet from 50-90 minutes, depending on what type of group it is. In a traditional process group, the interactions between the members of the group and the therapists become the material with which the therapy is conducted. In this context, the problems that the client experiences in daily life will become evident in his or her interactions in the group, allowing them to be worked through in a therapeutic setting. The insights gained in the group setting may be viewed as experiences which may be translated to “real life”. In addition to the material that is generated within the group, past experiences and experiences outside the therapeutic group are also used to understand thoughts, feelings and behaviors within the group.
Psycho-educational groups are more structured, time limited, content specific and the goal is to learn about the specific topic. For example, a “Coping with Depression” group might meet for 12 sessions and cover identifying and expressing feelings, identifying irrational beliefs contributing to depression, disputing irrational beliefs, identifying toxic relationships, etc. There is typically homework involved to help participants apply what they are learning to real life situations. Group therapy has proven to be an effective form of treatment, both as a stand alone intervention and as an adjunct to other forms of treatment. The majority of studies that examined group therapy compared to wait list controls found that group therapy was an effective treatment for depression, panic, social phobias, substance abuse and after care.
We Specialize In…
Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment • Domestic Abuse Counseling • Depression and Anxiety Treatment • Medication Management • Crisis Intervention •
Marital/Couples Counseling • Psychological Testing and Evaluations • ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) Treatment • ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Treatment • Anger Management • Self Esteem and Codependency Counseling • Divorce Prevention • Individual and Group Counseling • Teen and Adult Counseling • Marriage and Family Counseling