Therapists in Lake Junaluska, NC

My specialties are trauma, anxiety, depression. 21 yrs experience counseling adolescents, adults, couples and families. I do supportive listening, accepting, understanding and compassionate counseling to help problem solve together and cope to focus on healing. Kinds of therapy I do: CBT, DBT, REBT, Art therapy, Play therapy and Christian counseling. Experience: worked with World Trade Center 9/11 survivors, survivors of torture, in a psychiatric hospital, an outpatient clinic, as a clinical supervisor, as a school based therapist, counseled military, their spouses & children at bases in USA, Europe and Japan and private practice.

Our culture is one that has taught us that certain emotions should be avoided at all costs. My belief is that no feelings are "bad", and we were made to feel all of them. As a therapist, I work to destigmatize the assumptions that accompany mental health diagnoses, with a focus on helping those working through trauma. Re-integrating the whole self into a post-pandemic world is a transitional experience that invite the whole gamut of emotions to be felt. We all have light and dark inside of us, but we are not our thoughts or feelings. Pain is an innate part of being human, but it is my belief that we do not have to struggle alone.

I invite you to utilize my over 30 years of mental health/addictions education and experience, empowering you with highly effective and enduring therapy, resolving long term and recent issues that block your happiness and success. Adults, youths, couples and whole families are carefully taught needed skills and facilitated actual healing processes, step by step, to remedy thought distortions, repressed feelings and dysfunctional behaviors and attitudes that impair your relationships, socialization, work or school success. Treatment is customized in consideration of individual schedules, preferences, strengths, obstacles and goals for lasting growth and change. Christian counseling is available upon request.

I welcome clients of all genders. I respect that gender identity may not be the central issue, I also help you work on things such as anxiety and depression. I welcome clients who are working to better understand their gender identity or those seeking gender transition. I can help with related to gender, including social isolation and family issues. If transitioning, I provide therapy for hormone treatment and gender transition-related surgeries. I also provide therapy for Depression and Anxiety. Please email- brandnewdaycounseling@gmail.com

My clients are often skilled performers and are perceived by others as easy-going and confident. Internally, my clients often struggle to trust their various emotional experiences. “Why am I feeling this? I’m too emotional, this is irrational - there must be something wrong with me. Others don't seem to struggle like I do.” You may be experiencing feelings of disconnection from those around you, sometimes even friends. You may be exhausted from masking your difficulties, you may find yourself feeling very lonely. You really just want to feel "normal."

Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, and/or stress? I aim to support my clients through processing and navigating the many challenges that we face in today’s world. I strive to provide a safe space for my clients in order to grow and heal. I work with clients to establish goals that will better their mental health, well-being, and future.

A common misconception of counseling is that it is meant to "fix" an individual. More accurately, it is a catalyst for emotional stability, successful relationships, and satisfaction in life. Counseling is meant to build upon one's existing strengths resulting in the ability to manage stress in a healthier way. Often one's innate resiliency is overlooked and problems are approached with the assumption of a deficiency or "illness." A more positive, strength based, approach leads to a more intentional life with a grounded presence.