Counseling and Psychoeducation

IMPROVE YOUR SELF. IMPROVE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.

Hi! I'm Athena, a licensed associated counselor with 10+ years of experience in counseling and coaching, 40+ years of life experience :) and a mom of two teenagers. Rather than conventional talk therapy, I incorporate skills-building with counseling for my clients to learn evidence-based nervous system regulation, social-emotional health skills, and more to experience less anxiety, insecurities, depression, reactivity, and conflict, and more calm, focus, connection and confidence.

Free Consultation

Credentials

Areas of Expertise

Anxiety and Depression

Maladaptive Coping Behaviors

Trauma and Complex-PTSD

Relationship Distress

Self-Worth and Insecurities

More Than Talk Therapy

Neuroscience-Informed Methods and Social-Emotional Health Skills

The latest neuro-psychological research shows us that most emotional and mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, complex-PTSD, relationship distress, codependency, conflict and insecure attachment patterns, are based on a skill deficit and maladaptive stress reactions that we get stuck in day after day, that result in chronic nervous system activation — cycles of flight, flight, fawn and freeze. Thus, healing starts with learning evidence-based skills to experience results you actually feel.

Get unstuck from maladaptive stress states and reactions that impact your mind, body, relationships and self-worth.

FLIGHT

Anxiety, panic, obsessive-compulsive, ADHD

FIGHT

Anger, resentment, reactive, conflict, critical

FAWN

Compliant, people-pleasing, inner-critical

FREEZE

Depression, shame, procrastination, addiction

What's Your Stress Reaction Type?

Get Unstuck from Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn

Understanding your stress types, associated symptoms and maladaptive coping methods is the first step. Childhood and adulthood experiences, adaptations, birth order, trauma, and genetic predispositions impact how we develop stress types.

Flight Type

Anxiety, Panic
ADHD, OCD
Impulsivity
Busyaholic
Perfectionism
Achievement Addict

Fawn Type

People-pleasing
Compliant
Self-Critical
Resentful
Self-Sacrificing
Codependency

Freeze Type

Depression
ADD, Dissociation
Procrastination
Substance Use
Chronic Fatigue
Achievement Phobic

Fight Type

Angry Outbursts
Controlling
Critical
Shaming
Abusive
Personality Disorders

“A current event can have only the vaguest resemblance to a past traumatic situation and this can be enough to trigger the psyche’s hard-wiring for a fight, flight, fawn or freeze response."

Pete Walker, MA

Resolve Chronic Stress and Dysfunction

Nervous System Activation and Deactivation

Without Emotional Processing and Nervous System Regulation Skills, We Get Stuck in Maladaptive Coping Patterns and Chronic Stress States of Flight, Fight, Fawn and Freeze.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Learn Core Skills

DBT, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is a structured therapy that focuses on four core skills that provide many benefits.

Deactivate fight-or-flight system
Improve social functioning
Enhance emotional well-being
Better interpersonal relationships
Increase resilience
Ability to process emotions

Reduce chronic stress
Improve immune system function
Reduce inflammation and illness
Boost 'feel good' neurochemicals, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin
Mindfully respond rather than react to triggers

Mindfulness is the foundational element and starting point in therapy, providing essential groundwork for the other three skill modules.

Distress tolerance skills help you get through intense emotional pain without making the situation worse. Builds neuroplasticity 'tolerance muscles.'

Interpersonal effectiveness help you be more effective at listening and communicating your wants and needs to ensure you feel respected, supported and cared for.

Emotional regulation involves understanding and processing your emotions, and choosing how to express and respond.

With DBT skills you can quite literally walk yourself through any painful emotion to feel calm and balanced.

Client Experiences

The ability to calm my nervous system with regulation is something I didn't even know existed. Learning DBT has improved my entire life.

Truly grateful for all you have done for me. I can feel such a shift. I've had dozens of therapists throughout my life, but have never felt benefits until now. Thank you!

I just wanted to say thank you. It is wonderful... for the first time in my life, I am seeing and feeling healing!!!!

Thank you for your help over the past several weeks. You helped me restore my self-worth and push my confidence to move forward with my life and career.

I used to have panic attacks. Now if I feel anxious I trust myself to self-soothe and feel better in a few minutes.

I hope you have a smile knowing how you are really having a healing impact on people! Thank you for helping me heal and learn to love myself.

Free Consultation

AVAILABLE THERAPY

Treatment Modalities

Young female doctor holding colorful blocks with banner_ EMDR. Medical concept of EMDR Eye

Somatic EMDR Therapy

EMDR processes unpleasant and traumatic memories and is proven to treat anxiety, depression, OCD and PTSD. EMDR facilitates emotional healing similar to what happens in REM sleep.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

DBT involves learning emotional regulation and social skills to treat anxiety, depression, BPD, ADHD and more. Research shows changes in the brain, including reduced amygdala activation.

Portrait of a woman thinking dreaming ha

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy

MBCT is proven more effective than antidepressant medication. It incorporates mindfulness practices, present moment awareness, self-compassion, meditation, and breathing exercises.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Brief psychotherapy proven to treat relationship distress, anxiety and depression related to low self-worth, social anxiety and insecurities by boosting relationship and social-emotional health skills.

Free Consultation