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California Association of Marriage and Family Therapy
Employee Assistance Professionals Association
The Association for Addiction Professionals
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Adult Counseling I offer individual therapy geared toward getting more satisfaction and meaning from one's life and one's choices. My style is client-centered, interactive and supportive, guiding the client with questions and observations to the areas where the client has greater choice and empowerment. Duration of therapy varies based on the client's goals. I am open to working short-, medium- or long-term. The work is focused on the present, to the extent possible, keeping the client's therapeutic goals for the present and the future in sight while engaging and addressing material from the past as necessary. I work individually with clients of all ages. Couples counseling- I work with straight, lesbian and gay couples at various stages in their relationship (married, engaged, committed, or at the beginning -- or end -- of a relationship). My couples work is interactive and supportive, geared toward efficient problem-solving and the working through of presenting issues by offering concrete, useable interventions.
Anxiety Anxiety warns us against real or perceived danger. The purpose of anxiety is to prepare us to fight against or escape from a perceived threat. The problem with anxiety is that we frequently overreact to a perceived threat and then our anxiety becomes overwhelming. Depression When depressed, you are likely to experience a general lack of interest in everyday activities. You may also find yourself withdrawing from others, experiencing chronic fatigue, or feeling helpless and hopeless. Depression seldom goes away by itself. If you are depressed, it is important that you seek help. Family & Relationship Issues Relationship problems do not occur overnight. It takes time and "relationship neglect" in order for significant problems in your relationships to develop. When you or your partner do not talk about hurt feelings, the hurt soon turns into resentment. The next stage is "emotional deadening." In this stage you feel like roommates instead of intimate partners. Self-Esteem Issues Your self-esteem is your most valuable asset. With high self-esteem you can move mountains. Without it you can never be a success. Self-doubt makes you question your accomplishments and interferes with your path to success. Our self-esteem is a result of the validation or lack of validation we received throughout our lives. Anger can also have a negative impact on one's self-esteem. When you hold anger in, it eventually turns against you and lowers your self-esteem. Substance Abuse and Other Addictions People may use drugs for a number of reasons. Some take them out of curiosity to see what they feel like or because their friends are using them. Others take them to escape painful feelings and situations. Some use drugs because they are addicted and they cannot stop; the drug becomes more important than family, friends, or school. Still others use drugs because they believe in myths - that a drug can make someone more confident, get more work done, feel less sad, improve their sex life, and have more fun. The biggest myth is that occasional drug use is harmless. Career Change and Job Stress Career change and job transition can be stressful. Many individuals end up more stressed out than is necessary. There are productive ways to control and manage stress in your life. Life does not need to feel unpleasant or out of control. Life Transitions Depression, uneasiness, dissatisfaction, disappointment, fear, stress, curiosity, wanting to hide, feeling unappreciated are all words that men and women have used to describe their life transitions and some of the feelings that they felt. Your own experience will, no doubt, be somewhat different. There is no single description of the experience that is sufficient, but you can get the general idea. The positive side to this particular crisis is that in most cases these feelings are all healthy, normal, natural reactions to a person’s need to grow. If you are experiencing something like this ask yourself to evaluate the growth possibilities in your life. Grief and Loss Grief and loss is a natural and important part of life. Everyone deals with grief and loss differently. There are various stages to grief and loss that can be explored through counseling that will enable an individual to successfully cope with their situation. Critical Incident Stress Management A critical incident or a traumatic event is defined as an event outside the range of usual human experience which has the potential to easily overcome a person's normal ability to cope with stress. It is very common for an individual to experience an emotional or stress reaction after a critical incident. Sometimes the emotional reaction occurs shortly after a traumatic event or it can be delayed for some time. When stress reactions persist, professional assistance from a counselor is beneficial in assisting the person to work through the event. Substance Abuse Evaluations Following the Department of Transportation Guidelines Click here for SAP-DOT information |
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Lisa Montalvo, MFT, CEAP, SAP 1395 San Carlos Avenue, Suite C#4 San Carlos, California 94070 Phone/ Fax (650) 631-0909 LisaMontalvo@BayAreaCounselingService.com
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