Compassion Focused Therapists in Lamoille County, VT

Are you someone struggling with anxiety, fatigue, or depression? Do you wonder about the mind + body connection? Do you seek support, compassion, and non judgement? As an art therapist and clinical counselor I am here to help you find inner guidance and confidence. My approach is humanistic, integrative, and person focused.

Accepting clients 3/1/2024. Offering a somatic approach that is trauma-informed, heart-centered and integrative. I work with children, teens, and adults undergoing life transitions, or who are recovering from challenging circumstances or trauma. I offer couples and family sessions in addition to individual sessions. I specialize in pregnancy/postpartum/parenting, TBI & head injury, and additionally support people undergoing grief and loss. "Shaina has helped me find my strength, confidence and embrace the challenge of motherhood as a deep practice. Seeing Shaina has been the best gift I could give to myself and my family." VT & MI.

I provide interactive tools to help you resolve personal struggles that commonly manifest as anxiety, panic, confusion, fear, depression, worry or relationship problems. By accompanying you in conversation about your problems, strengths, achievements and values; or through play, drawing or dream recall I help you identify the relationship between your feelings and needs. Understanding this relationship is vital for resolving problems with peaceful and direct communication and cultivates self-compassion. My aim is to provide a therapeutic process that is supportive, relieving, exciting, appropriately challenging, and rewarding.

Forming genuine human relationships and collaboratively working with clients toward meeting their personal goals to live a happier, healthier and fulfilling life is one of my greatest passions. I have special interest in working with young adults going through life stages of change. My approach is trauma-informed, strength-based, client-centered, and customized to each client's needs using a combination of modalities.

Life is complicated. Our history, experiences and trauma affect not only who we are but also how we interact with the world. Whether you are struggling with childhood memories, recent trauma or simply trying to find solutions to balance out life, we can process them together. Therapy is about going deep, processing the wounds that affect us and integrating them into our current selves in order to live productively and meaningfully in the world.

Many people seek therapy as a way to ease and support major life transitions, relationship ruptures, or other difficult experiences. Sometimes it's even hard to appreciate the positive things and feel satisfied with a "good enough life."

Welcome! Green Peaks Counseling works with clients who present with symptoms related to Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, Substance Use Disorder/Alcohol Use Disorder. My practice's approach is person centered and I believe in working towards building a strong therapeutic alliance in order to build trust and predictability within a therapeutic relationship. My practice promotes the concept of harm reduction and strongly encourages multiple paths to recovery.

My goal is to create a safe, positive environment where you can explore the sources of stress and distress in your life. More than this, my goal is to work collaboratively with you to identify solutions and bring about positive change, whether in unwanted behaviors, challenging relationships, or new anxieties brought on by our ever-changing world.

In our journeys through life we experience both pleasurable and distressing events. When these events reach a level of trauma and are not processed or effectively integrated, individuals may rely on less adaptive strategies to manage discomfort, stress and change. These strategies can negatively influence the way we perceive and interact with the world and affect our intuitive nature and our intentionality for seeking meaning and experiencing joy. My practice is informed by a deeply attuned and heartfelt approach to my client’s emotional wellbeing. I enjoy working with children, adolescents, individuals, couples and families.

There are many reasons why someone might want to seek out counseling; maybe it's the desire to feel less depressed or anxious, to be more connected or understood, or to learn better communication skills in relationship to others. More often than not, the reason a person reaches out to a therapist is because something is out of balance or 'off'. I believe that people have an inherent desire to feel good and that we do the best we can until we learn better ways.

Life is full of emotions, sometimes its joy but sometimes its a sense of struggling and pain. Anxiety, depression, trauma, stress, and relationship/marital problems can all add to this sense of struggling. Especially, when we aren't well equipped to withstand it. Sometimes that struggle feels like this heavy cloud or mask we walk around with. Sometimes that struggle isolates us and causes us to become disconnected from ourselves or our loved ones. Playing tug of war with that struggle only makes it more draining.

Did you know that the body's natural response to stress includes restless, on edge wound up feelings? Stress also compromises our attention? You might feel digestive and sleep issues, feelings of anxiousness, and dis-ease. Has a recent life event, such as a job transition, a shift in your relationships, or unsettling medical news, triggered these feelings of unease? It's essential to recognize that such moments of high alert often present remarkable opportunities for personal growth, even though they may not initially feel terrible, awful or unsettling. From experience, I can help you find brightness in the darker places.

Do you want to wake up? Do you see that our thinking is conditioned and can nver be the self? We are born into a dysfunctional culture that conditions us to suffer individually and collectively. This imprisons our minds into a certain way of thinking. As we see in our society, this thinking creates conflict and division within ourselves and others. Do you want to WAKE UP and break free of the conditions of the mind? Are you willing to question and dig underneath to discover the quiet essence that is you? No matter your age, I would love to guide you on your journey of letting go, Waking up, and living in joy, not sorrow.

Learning how to hold space for yourself and your emotions can be difficult. You deserve a space to slow down, take a breath, and connect with what matters most to you - I'm here to hold that safe space for you. I enjoy working with humans who are experiencing anxiety, depression, burnout, or are in the midst of pivotal life shifts. I also work with those healing from trauma, specifically the type of trauma that’s made you feel unseen, unheard or if you've felt unloved. We'll access a place inside you that allows you to become more curious and aware of the processes currently running your life.

Explore, grow and learn new skills in a safe and empowering environment. Discover your strengths and identify clear goals and intentions.

Welcome, I'm so glad that you're here and taking the steps to seek support! I am providing therapy via an online teletherapy platform. I aim to provide a warm and accepting space where you are able to be your authentic self and explore the experiences that bring you into therapy. I believe we can all benefit from having a non-judgemental place to process life's stressors and challenges. My approach will be collaborative, as I view you as the expert of your own life. As you self-reflect, I will offer insight and support.

Each person's reason for entering therapy is unique. Therefore I take a strengths-based, person-centered approach to meet you where you are and proceed at your pace. I understand all struggles as uncomfortable and deep life callings for change and insight. I provide a safe and confidential space for you to be heard, and skills and insights to facilitate the natural transformation of your suffering into wellbeing.

Is there something you want to change, or accept more fully in your life? While we can become stuck in the past, or worried about the future, it is possible to cultivate greater ease, self compassion and presence. As human beings we are connected in that each of us experiences pain and suffering, yet we are also capable of great joy, growth and resiliency. While often it is our tendency to avoid or push away that which causes us distress, it is in bringing it forward and truly acknowledging what is, that eventually leads to greater freedom.

If you are looking for a warm, nonjudgmental space to explore difficult experiences or emotions, you are in the right place. Navigating life's transitions, past traumas, coping with pain or anxiety, and trying to create a life where the past no longer dominates your present can be hard to do alone. I am here to come alongside you and provide support while also equipping you with coping skills and strategies.