BRENT CICHOSKI, LPC
offering face to face and virtual sessions for interested clients
Individual Counseling
Individual Therapy Can Help
At some point, you probably thought to yourself (or maybe someone suggested), “Maybe I should get some help.” Help could mean a number of things, but when you’re feeling hopeless, overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, or lost— one of the best things you can do is meet with a licensed therapist.
The Benefits of Individual Therapy
It goes by many different names: therapy, counseling, psychotherapy, talk therapy, individual therapy. But no matter what you call it, it means one thing: you work one-on-one with a trained therapist in a ‘non-judgmental, caring, confidential environment.’
Individual therapy is sitting down with someone who has gone through years of training. We are trained to help people explore thoughts, feelings, habits, and experiences in order to gain a stronger understanding about themselves, and to help people feel better.
Marriage Counseling
If your marriage is not very happy or satisfying, chances are it is not an emotionally safe place for either you or your spouse. For years, marriage counseling has focused on communication skills and resolving conflicts. The desired outcome of therapy is to create a safe home environment where you are emotionally connected. Rather than skill-building and problem solving, couples need to feel emotionally safe, close, connected, cherished, and respected. Emotional engagement must precede all other skills, techniques, and methods in relationship building.
Couples who split up show clear warning signs:
distance, lack of affection
increased arguing, criticism, sarcasm
mistrust, secrecy
Couples who come to see us may be seeking improvements in a generally positive relationship, or may have very serious concerns about their future together. We provide immediate help for communication problems and misunderstandings, unproductive arguing and disagreements. Even if you are facing a distance in your relationship that has grown over time, chances are we can assist you in having the kinds of conversations you need to, in order to bridge the gap. We have enormous respect for the struggle involved in developing a truly strong, intimate relationship. We use methods from the best of modern research— you won't find us just acting as referee or listening while you take turns complaining about the problems you're having! You'll take home information that can help you change stuck patterns and habits so your relationship can become a source of love and caring again.
How Do You Know If You Need Therapy?
There are many different reasons that you might want to start seeing a therapist – to deal with past trauma, deal with anxiety or depression (or both), cope with major life transitions or events, or to gain self-knowledge and awareness. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed or unhappy, stuck on the same problem that comes up over and over again, or if you feel a general need for some extra support, then it’s probably time to look into finding a therapist.
Shaking the Stigma of Therapy
Let’s get one thing straight— you’re not crazy. You’re not broken. There’s nothing inherently wrong with you. Life can be hard. Things change. Trauma happens. But the most important thing to remember is this: just because you want to see a therapist, or because you saw a therapist in the past, it doesn’t mean you’re mentally ill. We could all use extra support sometimes.
Develop Fresh Insights About Your Life
We can help you learn techniques to manage patterns of anxiety, depression, self-criticism, and other unhealthy thoughts and emotions.
Plus, when you talk about what you’re feeling and thinking with a neutral person who has no personal attachment to the outcome, you can gain new insights on old issues, helping to discover underlying causes for what you’re feeling.
Learn Tools to Handle Emotions and Problems
Sometimes, due to various reasons, there are areas of life that feel harder to handle than others. Have you ever come across a problem or emotion over and over and feel each time like you just don’t know what to do or how to handle it? We can help give you tools to deal with those situations that feel overwhelming or just plain bad.
Improve Relationships
When you feel bad day in and day out, relationships suffer. You might feel like you don’t want to bring other people down, so you stay away from them, you don’t talk to your loved ones. You might lash out when your anxiety flares, saying or doing things that hurt others. Friends and family might start to feel rejected or hurt and pull away themselves.
Feeling overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, or helpless is hard on all types of relationships. When you start working with a therapist, he or she can help you feel better and improve your relationships with others.
Feel Empowered
Probably the best benefit about starting individual therapy is the feeling of taking back control over your life. When you’re in the throes of anxiety or depression, it can feel like life and everyone you know is passing you by— and there’s nothing you can do about it. But once you start doing individual counseling, you will learn skills to take back control of yourself and where you’re going, and it can feel energizing.