At Deeds Counseling, my specialties are helping adolescents and adults with anxiety, depression and relationship issues. Continue reading to learn more about counseling specialties in general and my specialties at Deeds Counseling.
What is a Specialty?
A specialty is when a counselor works with clients who have certain disorders or are of a certain population. Licensed counselors are able to treat any disorder or population that they have the experience and education to treat.
However, there is a growing trend for counselors to specialize. And there is definitely a need for specialization because no counselor is capable of knowing everything or working with everyone. There are too many mental health disorders and populations for any counselor to have the knowledge and ability to treat them all.
The field of counseling seems to be moving toward short-term counseling for specific issues. There may always be a need for counselors who offer long-term counseling for people who need in-depth analysis for deeply ingrained issues like personality disorders or addictions. However, there are many benefits to having a counselor who specializes in certain areas. A counselor who specializes will know more about the disorder or population and be more likely to keep up to date on research and new treatments.
What are Populations?
Counselors often only work with certain populations. In this context, population means all the people of a certain group. Age is an example of a population. Age can be divided into children, adolescents, adults and older adults. Some counselors only work with adults. Others only work with children. Some may work with all ages. Other examples of counseling populations are women, men, couples, families, specific religions or LGBTQIA+.
Anna Deeds, LPC’s Counseling Specialties:
Disorders
- Anxiety (Social Anxiety, OCD, Phobias, Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
- Depression (And related issues like low self-esteem, ruminating and suicidal ideation)
- Relationship Issues
Populations
- Older Adults
- Adults
- Adolescents (Age 14+)
- Couples
While I don’t have specific training with LGBTQIA+ issues, I want you to know you are always welcome in my office and I’d be happy to help you with any anxiety, depression or relationship issues. I do not discriminate and will always welcome any client regardless of their race/ethnicity, color, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. I left out age only because I don’t see young children.
Anxiety
If you live with anxiety on a regular basis, you know how hard it can be to function with it. Believe it or not, anxiety is actually something that you need. Anxiety is a part of the body’s fight, flight, freeze system. This system is important to our bodies because it is there to act if we are in danger.
The problem is that some people’s fight, flight, freeze system activates when you’re not really in danger. This happens because your brain doesn’t know the difference between real or perceived danger. Your body acts the same way if a bear attacks you or if you feel your social status is being threatened.
The good news is there are a lot of things you can do to make it better. I can help you learn breathing and relaxation techniques that will help you get your anxiety under control. You can also learn to challenge certain thoughts that are anxiety provoking.
I specialize in helping people with Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Social Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobias and Agoraphobia. If you’re not sure which diagnosis you have, I will help you sort that out after your intake. Diagnosis helps me know which treatments will work best for you.
Depression
Depression can make it hard to get out of bed, get dressed and go to work. People with depression tend to have lower self-worth and some have lost hope that things will get better.
The good news is there is a lot you can do to change how you are feeling. Happiness doesn’t come from the things you have. It comes from inside you. By changing how you think about yourself and the world you live in, you can change your mood from depressed to happy. The steps to do this are simple but they aren’t always easy to put into practice. What I mean by this is it takes consistent work on your part. But I can guide you to what you need to do and help motivate you to do it.
Behavioral changes can help with depression as well. Exercise increases many of the chemicals in your brain that make you feel good. Other behavioral changes you can make that will help depression include eating healthy, drinking water, meditating, yoga and mindfulness.
Relationship Issues
Relationships take a lot more work than most people realize. It doesn’t help that the media portrays relationships like you just have to find the right person and everything will fall into place. This is a myth. The people who have the healthiest relationships put a lot of work into their relationship. However, they may not realize it. It may be that the work needed just seems to come more naturally to some people.
The good news is you can learn what work you need to do. And if you practice this work consistently, it will eventually become second nature for you.
The work that needs done is different for every couple. This is why I use The Gottman Relationship Check-up in my couples counseling. The Gottman Relationship Check-up is an assessment tool that analyzes how a couple functions across many different areas of their relationship. It helps me learn which areas need work and what will help you work on these areas.