Counselling & Therapy – Chris Pankewich

COUNSELLING & PSYCHOTHERAPY SERVICES

– GET STARTED ON YOUR JOURNEY TO WELLNESS –

Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, is a useful tool to help people address mental (cognitive) and emotional difficulties. Therapists use a variety of techniques to help clients reduce the impact of troubling symptoms and shift towards a life with increased well-being and fulfillment. Making the decision to work with a therapist takes a great deal of courage. Most of us decide it’s time to explore therapy when we finally acknowledge that something must change. Research studies utilizing brain imaging techniques have been able to see functional changes in the brain after a person has undergone psychotherapy. Counselling & Therapy takes place in a safe and confidential environment.

The most common reasons people seek counselling & therapy include cultivating a deeper relationship with the self (self-awareness), processing traumatic experiences, understanding anxiety & depression, navigating relationships, and working on desired life goals or lifestyle changes.

Therapy sessions are typically held on a weekly basis for about 45-60 minutes. It is an active process where both client and therapist work together to work towards desired outcomes. The trust and relationship between therapist and client are essential for maximum benefit. Therapy can be short-term, a few sessions to deal with immediate issues, or long-term, to address longstanding and complex ones. Client and therapist work together to plan out how often and how long to meet to best serve the client’s needs.

AREAS OF FOCUS

Anxiety & Stress

Our relationship to how we are affected by anxiety and stress is complicated. While small can be motivating, high levels can feel overwhelming and debilitating. Understanding our relationship with anxiety can help us transform how we experience this complex emotion. By doing so, we can open up to what our anxiety is trying to tell us, a vital step in conquering the burdens that are holding us back.

Anger & Assertiveness

For many of us, anger and aggression have been engrained as a defensive mechanism, a way of protecting ourselves from the world. Often, we feel like we need to resort to anger to ensure we aren’t being taken advantage of. In the moment, this anger can intensify and lead us to taking actions that hurt ourselves and those around us, often leading to feelings of regret. If we can understand our anger and seek to connect with it in a different way, we can start to learn how this emotion, in its healthy form, can serve a vital role in building relationships and helping drive success in other areas of our lives.

Life & Career Transitions

Our career identity is a foundational piece of who we are. When we are engaged, focused, and satisfied with our career we find it much easier to bring that same energy to our personal life. In contrast, when our career is feeling stagnant, stressful, or overwhelming, our personal life also tends to suffer. Exploring our relationship to our careers can be one of the most fulfilling and worthwhile pursuits we ever take. There are a variety of tools and techniques we can utilize to help craft a career that is in line with who we truly are. Schedule a free consultation with me to see if we are a good fit.

Depression

States of depression, whether prolonged or brief, can often feel debilitating and affect us in such powerful ways. As we continue to understand the science of depression, we learn more about the complex and unique aspects of this emotional state. The process and pace of working through depression is one that involves self-awareness, compassion, environmental considerations, and action-oriented steps to get life back on track.

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY (AGES 16+)

My role in individual therapy is to act as a supportive companion and occasional guide helping you navigate through your journey. This process provides the opportunity to cultivate awareness. This increased awareness can relate to our emotional state, while at other times it connects to the deeper meanings that drive our daily actions. Life is complex and psychotherapy can act as a helpful tool to both unpack and embrace the richness that each day can bring.

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COUPLES THERAPY

We all strive to have healthy, loving, and supportive relationships where we can have the space to be ourselves, while also feeling connected to our partners. Hectic daily lives and difficult circumstances can create various challenges in relationships and increase the chances of getting stuck in unhelpful patterns. Working together, as a couple, in a therapeutic environment involves shifting these patterns of interaction and developing healthy communication to work together, as a unit to resolve problems and conflicts you may be experiencing while gaining deeper insight of ourselves and our partners. Schedule a free consultation with me to see if we are a good fit

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GROUP THERAPY

Joining a group of strangers can feel intimidating at first, but group therapy has proven to provide benefits that individual therapy may not. Groups can act as a vital support network and help put our own problems in perspective. The sharing, support, and creativity of meeting in groups has a powerful ability to reduce shame around life problems and discover diverse solutions to problems. Formal group sessions offer benefits beyond informal self-help and support groups. As therapists, we receive specialized training to design a group experience aimed at cultivating specific strategies to help make important life changes.

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