Aetna Therapists in Charlottesville, VA

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with seven years experience in the mental health field. I provide one on one psychotherapy for adults and adolescents who are struggling with anxiety or depression, working to manage life changes and healing from trauma.

As a cognitive-behavior's therapist with over 35 years clinical experience, my goal is two-fold with each of the people who entrust themselves into my care. One is to help them resolve the issues that are at the core of their current unhappiness. A second is to equip them with the necessary skills to lead a happy, productive life and to quickly resolve any issues that may arise in the future.

Therapy often focuses on life’s biggest challenges and difficult emotions, but that doesn’t mean therapy has to be a distressing experience. I work with adolescents and adults who are experiencing depression, anxiety, adjusting to life changes, addiction, and PTSD. I specialize in treating trauma and utilize Cognitive Processing Therapy to guide individuals through reprocessing what they have experienced in order to cultivate healing and growth from their traumas. I have helped survivors of a wide variety of traumatic events including but not limited to; sexual assault, childhood abuse, combat related trauma, and domestic violence.

I work with people struggling to resolve feelings of anxiety or sadness, or those who find that relationship challenges seem to keep repeating themselves. Together we embark on a journey of discovery to identify and understand the patterns operating below awareness that inform expectations, and color perceptions. Whether working with adults, adolescents, couples or caregivers, I believe therapy should be an engaging and dynamic process where all thoughts and feelings are welcomed. Healing occurs when we allow ourselves the freedom to express the scope of our emotions, and my sessions are as likely to include laughter as tears.

***Please note that calls and emails are answered by my intake coordinator, Madeline Schultz.*** I work with individuals, couples and families collaborating with them to reach their goals. These goals range from finding relief from depression, anxiety, past trauma, and addiction to finding deeper joy and satisfaction in work, leisure and relationships. I have specialized training in individual and family therapy, couples therapy, and sex therapy. I provide a safe environment for people to reflect on their lives with curiosity and compassion and make desired changes based on this reflection.

You’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, anxious or even depressed. You aren’t as confident as you’d like to be. You're struggling with your emotions and wanting better solutions for how to cope with the stress in your life. It’s painful to not feel in control of our emotions and negative thoughts can make it hard to feel good about yourself, your relationships and your outlook on life. I help adults through individual therapy with anxiety, stress management, life transitions and changes, relationship issues, self-esteem, depression, and anger management issues through individual therapy.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor who has been in the mental health private practice industry since 1998 and licensed since 2000. I provide psychotherapy to individuals, couples and families to help them achieve personal growth, balance, and wellness. I have spent much of my experience working with adolescents and adults. My approach to therapy is primarily cognitive-behavioral emphasizing solution-focused therapy. I include clients in the development of personalized treatment plans and will use a holistic approach, which means I may use different methods to help you meet your goals including reality therapy, family systems therapy and homework.

As your therapist, I will guide you to recognize learned patterns of thinking, acting and feeling that may be creating suffering in your life. Together we will explore where and why you learned those patterns. Once fully understood, you will find the courage to transform those learned patterns into healthier ones. I will then guide you to practice these new and healthier patterns in the therapy room as well as in your life outside the therapy room. Once you transform old patterns of relating into healthier ones, you will feel lighter, more confident and happier.

Rebecca is a licensed clinical social worker with extensive training and experience working with individuals, couples and families dealing with the challenges of mental health issues, and/or physical illness such as cancer. She has expertise working with anxiety, depression, ADHD (Adults and Children), trauma, dealing with serious illness, relationships, and grief and loss. Rebecca practices with a kind and gentle approach using proven strategies to help clients regain control and move forward with a focus on building resilience and overall healthy functioning.

My style is interactive, behavioral, and usually short-term. I'm curious about where and how clients get stuck in running their lives, solving their own problems. I focus on helping clients break dysfunctional patterns, take acceptable risks, and approach problems in a more flexible way. There's homework and new behaviors to try during the week. I have written 13 books on couple & family therapy, anxiety, depression & anger, brief therapy, clinical supervision, as well as over 300 articles. I write an online column for Psychology Today entitled Fixing Families and have provided trainings nationally.

Life can feel like a tremendous gift or an incredible challenge - and sometimes both feel true in the same day. Therapy can help by providing space and support to better understand your own life, and how to align it more closely with your individual nature and purpose. This inquiry into who we really are is often catalyzed by difficult circumstances, when life as we knew it changes, or needs to change. Seasons of flux can become pathways to identity development, growth, and spiritual maturity. Undertaking life-rebuilding on purpose, with support, can create a trustworthy new source of self-confidence and increased life force.