“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
― Rumi
― Rumi
Embedded Files
Individual Therapy
Individual Therapy
Therapy offers a safe and supportive place to process hard things and learn new skills. Reasons individuals may seek counseling include:
Difficulty controlling worry or managing stress
Recurring intrusive and distressing thoughts
Changes in your typical functioning (i.e. problems sleeping, loss of interest, difficulty focusing, etc.)
Struggles with self-esteem, confidence, or identity
Problems in your interpersonal relationships (i.e. conflict, lack of trust, poor boundaries, etc.)
Grief and loss
Fears of specific objects or situations that create stress in your day-to-day routine
Relationship Therapy
Relationship Therapy
Relationship counseling offers a neutral ground to help partners gain skills to increase emotional connection and improve the quality of their relationship. Goals of counseling might include:
Improve communication
Increase trust
Enhance intimacy and connection
Explore resentment and anger
Create shared dreams
Resolve recurring issues
Increase understanding and compassion
Strengthen friendship
Parenting Support for Anxiety
Parenting Support for Anxiety
Therapy can be highly effective for parents of teens or young adults struggling with anxiety. While it’s common for children to attend individual therapy, working directly with parents can sometimes be just as—if not more—beneficial.
In this approach, the therapist meets with the parent or parents, rather than the child. This model is based on the SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) program.
You may benefit from SPACE if:
You have a child (between the ages of 12-25 yrs old) with a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder (i.e. OCD, GAD, social phobia, etc.)
Your child is in individual therapy or has tried individual therapy in the past
You’ve tried to support your child by accommodating their emotional needs, but it’s starting to feel overwhelming or ineffective
You want to learn how you can feel more empowered as a parent to support your child with their anxiety
Specialties
Specialties
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety is a natural response to stress, but for some, it becomes overwhelming and persistent, interfering with daily life. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions and come in several forms:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Characterized by chronic worry and tension, even when there is little or no obvious reason to worry.
Panic Disorder: Involves sudden and repeated panic attacks—intense episodes of fear that may include physical symptoms like chest pain, heart palpitations, or shortness of breath.
Social Anxiety Disorder: A strong fear of social situations or being judged by others, often leading to avoidance of interactions.
Phobias: Intense, irrational fears of specific objects or situations, such as heights, flying, or certain animals.
Illness Anxiety Disorder: Excessive worry and fear about having or developing a serious illness, with no or few physical symptoms present.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Occurs in response to experiencing or witnessing one or more traumatic events, and involves symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, and heightened anxiety.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
OCD is a mental health condition marked by unwanted, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) performed to reduce anxiety. The OCD cycle typically follows four steps: obsession, which triggers distress; anxiety, caused by the obsession; compulsion, a behavior meant to ease the anxiety; and temporary relief, which reinforces the cycle. Although compulsions may bring short-term comfort, they keep the cycle going. If you are experiencing a similar cycle, there is help! You can learn how to stop the cycle.
Relationships
Relationships
Every relationship faces challenges, but when communication breaks down, conflicts become frequent, or emotional connection feels lost, it may be time to seek support. Therapy helps individuals and couples navigate issues such as trust, intimacy, recurring arguments, life transitions, or feeling stuck. Whether you're in a romantic partnership, friendship, or family relationship, therapy offers a safe space to explore patterns, improve communication, and rebuild connection. You don’t have to wait for a crisis—early support can make a lasting difference.
Treatment Approaches
Treatment Approaches
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
ACT focuses on helping clients develop psychological flexibility: the ability to experience all emotions (distressing and pleasant) rather than trying to escape, avoid or suppress them. This approach uses concepts and techniques to help clients change their perspective on psychological suffering, increase mindfulness, identify their values, and live a meaningful life.
Click below for more information about ACT:
Exposure and Response Prevention
Exposure and Response Prevention
ERP is an evidence-based, behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders. It is considered the gold standard treatment for OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). The goal of ERP is to help clients confront unwanted thoughts and fears without needing to make them "right" or "fix " them by engaging in compulsive behaviors. This process involves gradually exposing clients to situations that invoke their obsessions in a safe environment.
Click below for more information about ERP:
Inference-based Cogntive Behavioral Therapy
Inference-based Cogntive Behavioral Therapy
Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT) is a specialized approach to treating OCD that focuses on how intrusive thoughts are formed and believed, rather than just the behaviors they trigger. Instead of challenging the content of obsessions, I-CBT helps clients recognize the reasoning errors and doubts that lead them to treat imagined threats as real. By strengthening trust in their senses and reality, clients learn to break the obsession-compulsion cycle and reduce anxiety. I-CBT is especially helpful for individuals with OCD who struggle with doubt-based thinking or mental compulsions.
Click below for more information about I-CBT:
SPACE- Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions
SPACE- Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions
SPACE is a parent-based treatment designed to help children and teens struggling with anxiety, OCD, and related challenges. Instead of focusing directly on the child, SPACE works with parents to reduce accommodating behaviors—things families often do to help their child avoid anxiety—but that can unintentionally reinforce it. Through structured guidance and support, parents learn new ways to respond to their child’s distress with empathy, confidence, and calm leadership.
The goal of SPACE is to help parents feel empowered and supported while fostering greater independence, resilience, and coping skills in their child. Research has shown that when parents make these changes, children’s anxiety often improves—even without direct child participation.
Click below for more information about SPACE:
EMDR
EMDR
EMDR is an evidence-based therapy developed to help people heal from traumatic or distressing life experiences. It works by helping the brain reprocess memories that have become “stuck,” reducing the emotional intensity and physical distress connected to them. During EMDR, clients focus on a specific memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation—such as eye movements or tapping..
EMDR is primarily used to treat trauma, post-traumatic stress, and related symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, or emotional reactivity. While it can sometimes reduce anxiety linked to traumatic experiences, it is not typically used for anxiety disorders like OCD, which benefit more from treatments such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) or cognitive-behavioral approaches.
Click below for more information about EMDR:
Gottman Method
Gottman Method
The Gottman Method is a research-based approach to couples therapy that focuses on building stronger relationships through improved communication, conflict resolution, and emotional connection. Developed by Drs. John and Julie Gottman, this method helps partners deepen intimacy, manage disagreements in healthy ways, and strengthen their friendship and shared goals. It’s especially effective for couples looking to rebuild trust, enhance closeness, or prevent future issues.
Click below for more information about Gottman Method:
Kist Counseling does not provide medications or medication management.
Kist Counseling does not provide medications or medication management.
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