Living with untreated ADHD can leave you or your loved one feeling overwhelmed, overstimulated, and scatterbrained. It can make it hard to focus, think before acting, regulate emotions, and stay organized. You or your loved one can learn to manage inattention and hyperactivity symptoms with treatment. The best treatment for ADHD symptoms is a combination of approaches, including therapy. A therapist can help you explore your options and find the best strategy for your needs. Individual therapy can allow you to develop healthier beliefs about yourself and improve your self-esteem. This confidence will enable you to build on the strengths of ADHD and implement new techniques to overcome the unique challenges that may interfere with your school, work, and personal life. With the help of a therapist, you can learn how to rewire your brain to cultivate patience and self-compassion and find the tools you need to navigate the complex parts of living with ADHD. You can explore options for regulating emotions, tackling procrastination, improving time management, building social skills, and increasing motivation. 

Anxiety is a feeling we all experience on occasion. It is a normal response to stressful situations. Triggered by stress and fear, anxiety warns us that something is potentially harmful. Human beings are wired to survive, and anxiety’s purpose is to protect us. In the right amount, we are positively motivated by anxiety. In fact, scientists have identified good stress, known as eustress, as necessary for our overall well-being. This is the kind of stress that gives us butterflies when we’re excited and keeps us motivated toward a specific goal.

It is a paradox that stress is meant to help us—it is our fight, flight, or freeze response to dangerous situations—and yet is has the potential to impede our quality of life. What happens, then, when beneficial stress or “eustress” turns into distress? The downside of such anxious stress is that it can often lead to negative outcomes. Worry becomes excessive or chronic which can lead to sadness, fear, and isolation for its sufferers. Because anxiety shows up in different ways, some people may not recognize its impact immediately and therefore live in distress for long periods of time. When anxiety become a chronic condition, it can keep us from enjoying life to the fullest.

There are a number of subtypes of anxiety that are impairing including: panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Chronic anxiety is most often identified as General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and is characterized by persistent and pervasive worry. Over time, steady worry and negative thinking interfere with daily functioning and relationships. Worrying about “everything” anxiety can be debilitating. Life is stressful and requires much from us. Challenges as demands on time, competing priorities, interpersonal conflicts, financial problems, or perhaps the loss of a loved one create physiological and cognitive stressors that create tremendous anxiety. Panic Disorder is a type of anxiety marked by sudden and repeated panic attacks. Fear becomes so intense and uncomfortable that it manifests physically. Individuals often report chest pains, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness or vertigo, abdominal distress, loss of control and fear of dying.

Research demonstrates that nature (genetics) and nurture play a role in anxiety. While our DNA poses a potential risk factor for anxiety disorders, it does not necessarily mean that the condition is inevitable. Our environment plays a significant role and exposure to trauma at critical points in development can reset the brains normal fear-processing system to overreact in non-threatening situations.

If you find yourself struggling with anxiety, therapy can be a valuable resource. Therapists assess and connect the environmental and genetic factors that may be contributing to your distress. Therapy can help you connect thoughts, beliefs, and actions that maintain anxious symptoms.  You can then build on existing strengths, while adding skills, like meditation and mindfulness to better manage stressors that trigger anxious thoughts and feelings of panic.

Often we receive messages about mental health such as "emotions are a 

sign of weakness" and "don't show emotions". In fact, many of us have 

never been taught how to manage our emotions, let alone talk about how 

we feel. Let's have that conversation.

Life happens- for better, worse and everything in between. Sometimes we 

cope in unhealthy or ineffective ways to avoid or numb feelings of 

grief, sadness, anger and fear. Avoiding may feel good in the moment but 

it can make you feel worse in the long run, destroy your relationships 

and keep you stuck. There are better ways to decrease pain that will not 

lead to additional problems.

Coping skills can be helpful to manage periods of adjustment, distress, 

uncomfortable emotions and much more. There are a variety of different 

skills to navigate difficult times. Coping skills can include 

mindfulness, distress tolerance, communication, and emotion-focused 

strategies. Sometimes, it takes a combination of coping skills to handle 

a situation. That is okay! After all, it takes a combination of tools to 

fix a car or a combination of ingredients to create a delicious dish. 

Life is complex; so if you need a couple 'extra tools in your toolbox', 

we can help with that.

We may not be able to control what happens to us but we can choose how 

we respond. Take control of your life by learning effective strategies 

to manage stress.

Everyone experiences highs and lows, but it can become frustrating and scary when you get stuck in either extreme for an extended time and do not feel like yourself. Whether you experience periods of intense sadness, extreme happiness, or both, therapy can help you restore balance to your life and get you back to living a life that is in line with your values.

Individual therapy for depression and mood disorders involves learning the connections between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. A therapist can help you identify and challenge your unhelpful thoughts to adopt a more balanced perspective of your challenges. This new perspective creates distance between your thoughts and feelings and your reactions, allowing you the space and self-awareness to implement new coping skills and techniques.

In collaboration with your therapist, you can develop the skills to balance your mood, including learning how to handle stressful situations, manage your urges, build motivation, increase positive emotions, be more present in your daily life, and improve your relationships.

Nutrition counseling is a supportive process that can help individuals improve their nutrition and health habits. It is a collaborative and individualized process where you can learn about your own nutrition choices and how to better incorporate a balanced and healthy diet. Healthy means different things for different people and will look differently depending on your situation. We operate from a weight-inclusive, Health At Every Size, and non-diet lens. You likely will not be prescribed or given a meal plan, but will gain knowledge, skills, tools, and resources to make informed choices about your eating habits that will support your health. If you are managing a health condition where you have diet restrictions, are struggling with your relationship with food and eating, or are limited in your ability to make food related decisions due to mental health, you may benefit from nutrition counseling. A Registered Dietitian is trained and qualified to provide medical nutrition therapy and can help you on your journey. 

Family conflict can occur in any family. The definition of a family is broad.  The family members in a family could include extended family or those who are not blood related.  A family has individuals who have different personalities, different perspectives, and may have different ways of communicating. Due to the diversity of the family, there will be conflict within a family. These issues could include conflict regarding communication, lack of boundaries, trauma related events, or different life cycles of the family.  Some common family problems are financial, grief, or divorce.

Family therapy can help a family to develop better communication skills, or a family may need help developing coping skills due to a traumatic event in the family. The family may need help learning new healthy boundaries.  As the family evolves, all members grow, and the family will continually change. At some point, new skills may need to be learned to help the family to stay united.   The children in the family will go through various life cycles and parents may need assistance with the changes of their teen.  The goal of family therapy is to help the family better understand each other and repair any patterns that are hurting the family.

From the time we are born, we begin a journey of forming our identity, including our gender identity. For Cisgendered people, there may never be a question. However, at some point Transgender, Nonbinary, and Bigender individuals may discover they are not comfortable with some or all aspects of their sex assigned at birth. These individuals can experience anxiety, panic, disgust, self-hatred, self-harming, isolation, and suicidal ideation because of the incongruence of who they are versus how they appear physically. They may feel more masculine, feminine, or even neutral regarding their gender.

Wrestling with these feelings alone can be extremely painful, isolating, and anxiety ridden. Often people struggling with “coming out” as their true self (gender) risk losing their families, friendships, housing, employment, reputation and at worst, their life. Additionally, they can struggle with other psychosocial difficulties. Therapy can help transgender individuals explore emotions related to gender identity and develop supportive relationships.  Having a safe, gender affirming therapist that is knowledgeable about WPATH’s 8th Edition Standards of Care guidelines is essential. ICT Therapyworks is a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the U.S. Professional Association for Transgender Health (USPATH). 

There are many diverse ways of being transgender.  Not every transgender person is interested in changing his or her gender presentation.  Some transgender people wish to expand or discard traditional definitions of gender.  Transgender clients and their families seek therapy for a variety of reasons, which are not always because of gender-related concerns.  Often transgender people and their families seek therapy for issues related to gender questioning and exploration, assistance in obtaining medial treatments, and relational difficulties.  Evidenced based therapy practices help clients navigate feelings, thoughts, and behaviors to help transgender individuals move through their exploration and transition with increased confidence, well-being, and support.  Family therapy can also help create deeper understanding and integration of the transgender identity within a relationship.  Parents and partners of transgender individuals can also benefit from therapy to seek information, help their loved one navigate transition, repair and redefine relationships, and foster healthy communication of emotions.

Everyone will experience a form of grief at least once in their life. Some may experience it multiple times and find that each experience is unique to the previous, leaving each event difficult to manage and to understand. Grief is often associated with the death of a loved one, however, it is defined as “a great loss”, meaning that one can experience grief in many forms. Losing a job, losing a home, and ending a relationship (platonic or romantic) can also be reasons for grief to occur. 

Although there are the commonly discussed stages of grief, that does not mean that grief has a timeline. Grief can be unpredictable by changing each day and year. An individual’s own belief system and perspective can impact the length of the grieving process, meaning that each person’s grief process is unique to them. So, at times, it can seem more complicated and discouraging when comparing one’s own grief with another person’s.

Treatment for grief is about finding guidance and support as the individual adjusts to their new way of living after their loss and working on growing around that grief. Grief does not get smaller, we just learn to live with it as it gets manageable over time. Many individuals may experience depression and anxiety symptoms when they encounter grief which can add to the complicated nature of it. Grief therapy and support groups can be utilized to gain helpful coping skills, support from others in similar situations, and reminders of practicing grace and forgiveness of self. 

Most people go through a series of intense feelings after being diagnosed with infertility. Feelings of anger and sadness are quite common, as are feelings of loss and betrayal. A couple's or individual's sadness may turn to grief- grief for the child of their fantasies or grief for the experiences they imagined sharing with the child. Couples are likely to experience changes in their relationship. These may include feeling more emotionally distant or needing to withdraw from intimacy. Feelings of guilt and self-blame may also arise, particularly if one of the partners is identified as being the primary cause of the infertility. Additionally, the unfertile partner may fear that the other person might leave the relationship.

Often, individuals and couples experiencing infertility may begin to isolate themselves from friends and family. They may dread attending social functions for fear that uncomfortable discussions about the fertility process may arise. Socializing with friends and family who have children or who are pregnant may also become difficult, especially during periods of difficult diagnostic tests and treatments. 

Therapy can provide a safe, neutral ground in which to discuss the numerous issues related to infertility, and validate the intense feelings and emotions which often accompany the crisis. Therapy can help individuals wade through the process, communicate better with each other, and gather more support from family and friends. Therapy can also provide an opportunity for individuals and couples to learn more efficient ways of addressing issues, make sense of them, reduce conflict and stress, and make wiser decisions regarding medical treatments. Often, partners have different opinions regarding a particular treatment, which may result in relationship discord. Therapy can help the couple negotiate a plan, become more focused, and set an agreeable timeline for treatment.

The causes of infidelity are complex and varied. Affairs can occur in happy relationships as well as in troubled ones. It can be difficult and sometimes impossible for the injured partner to understand their partner’s capacity to engage in an affair. And while the majority of affairs happen as the result of relational dissatisfaction, they also happen as a result of personal dissatisfaction and low self-esteem.  In such cases, the involved partner may be unaware of his or her contribution to what is lacking in the relationship. Satisfactory relationships hinge on reciprocity and a prolonged imbalance of give and take can easily lead to unhappiness.

Multiple affairs may be symptomatic of Out Of Control Sexual Behavior. Individuals can be  driven by the passion of a new relationship or compulsively attracted to the high and the anxiety release of sexual orgasm. But such release comes with a cost to his or her self-esteem, resulting in feelings of shame and worthlessness.

In the age of social media and technology, a new crisis of infidelity often referred to as the emotional affair has emerged. People who never intended to be unfaithful are unwittingly crossing the line from platonic friendships into romantic relationships, particularly in the workplace and on the Internet. Emotional affairs differ from platonic friendships in that there is 1) greater emotional intimacy than in the long-term relationship, 2) the involved partner engages in secrecy and deception, and 3) there is often sexual chemistry. Internet affairs, which cause relational distress despite lack of actual physical contact, exemplify emotional affairs. In some instances combined-type affairs occur in which intercourse outside of the primary relationship occurs within a deep emotional attachment. This type of infidelity will have the most disruptive impact on committed relationships such as marriage or long-term coupling.

Vulnerabilities for infidelity can be linked to relationship problems such as conflict avoidance, fear of intimacy, or life cycle changes like the transition to parenthood, empty nesting, and the death of a parent. Some dissatisfied partners begin an external relationship as a way of exiting an unhappy relationship.  And frequently the involved partner will re-write the relational history in order to justify an ongoing affair. It is unreasonable to compare a forbidden love affair that is maintained by romantic idealization with the routine familiarity of marriage and long-term coupling. 

After an affair, couples who want to rebuild their relationship need to resolve any ambivalence about staying in the relationship, or work toward separating in a constructive way. When working with infidelity, therapists often use an integrative approach best suited to the couple. Treatment is rooted in a common ground approach that emphasizes safety and forgiveness.

No one has a perfect relationship, and almost everyone can benefit from some help at times with their romantic relationship.  Sometimes troubles within a committed relationship reach the point that partners become profoundly disappointed and so upset about their relationship and may even come to question whether they want to remain in the relationship.  Couple distress is very unsettling and the ways problems often progress make it easy for things to go from bad to worse.  Sometimes couples can make positive changes on their own, but frequently help from a couple or family therapist is needed.  You need not be legally married to experience couple distress and benefit from couples therapy.

Success in romantic relationships depends on a number of skills, such as being able to understand yourself, understand your partner, fight well, problem solve, and negotiate differences.  Sometimes patterns we learned in our families growing up aren’t effective, but are carried over to a romantic relationship.  Sometimes the stresses of life make it difficult to stay happily committed.

Treatment for couple distress is in part building or rebuilding skills such as learning to communicate and problem solve, and how to fight without engaging in too much hurt.  Couples therapy provides an opportunity for partners to work together to see each other as people, to understand where they are coming from, and to negotiate those differences.  Couples therapists have special training in couples therapy.  They know how to help couples have a sense of progress even as they struggle with difficult issues. Some promote skills and practice, others look more at the past and how things got this way, some combine the two.  A couple’s therapist can have some useful ideas about how to improve the relationship and how to find a better way to approach your partner.

There is no other time in life when changes are happening as rapidly as during the perinatal period. From conception to birth to postpartum, this period of time is when a woman is most likely to experience depression and/or anxiety.

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are a group of disorders with symptoms that affect women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Research shows us that around 15-20% of people who give birth will experience PMADs, and people that experience infant loss or stillbirth experience even higher rates. Additionally, people in vulnerable and marginalized populations experience higher rates of PMADs with less access to support.

Types of PMADs include postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, postpartum psychosis, bipolar mood disorders, and postpartum PTSD.

Psychotherapy offers a safe space to navigate the difficult emotions that can sometimes accompany this time in your life. Some examples of how therapy can specifically help you recover from perinatal mood and anxiety disorders by: 

• Help you define and discuss expectations 
• Provide targeted solutions for more effective communication
• Develop conflict resolution skills for you and your partner
• Discuss the overall transition into parenthood 
• Navigate, discuss and process difficult emotions without judgment 

If you are struggling, you do not have to navigate this alone. Therapist with perinatal specialized training truly understand that you deserve and need support now in order to get back to a level of functioning that supports you and your family. 

Self-esteem refers to one's overall sense of self-worth and personal value. It shapes our perception of ourselves and can have a significant impact on our mental health. Low self-esteem can cause individuals to engage in negative self-talk, feel inadequate, and have decreased self-confidence. Low self-esteem can result in negative thoughts and emotions and a decreased satisfaction with life, leading to problems such as anxiety and depression.

On the other hand, high self-esteem can lead to a more a positive outlook on life, a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment, and a stronger ability to cope with challenges and setbacks. High self-esteem can lead to increased confidence, healthier relationships, and improved overall mental health.

Therapy can be a helpful tool for individuals seeking to improve their self-esteem and overall mental health. A therapist can help individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns and promote positive self-talk. They can also provide support and guidance as individuals work towards setting and achieving their goals, improving their relationships, and fostering a stronger sense of self-worth and personal value. With the help of a therapist, individuals can work towards building a strong foundation of self-esteem and improving their overall mental health.

Sexual intimacy can be one of the most satisfying and fulfilling experiences, but for many people, sexual activity lacks pleasure and satisfaction. Sex therapy is a specialized form of counseling that addresses concerns about sexual function, sexual feelings, and intimacy — either in individual therapy or in joint therapy with your partner. Sex therapy can be effective for adults of any age, sex, or sexual orientation.

Sex therapy can help you resolve various sexual issues, from concerns about sexual function or feelings to the way you relate to your partner.

Spiritual counseling sees that life is innately personal and individuals want to build their own unique, flowing relationship with it, organically and without force. With the Soul being the starting point individuals come from the heart, while not forgetting their head, and from the heart, they care for the sacred interdependence of all life.

Compassion for self and compassion for others is a core concept for personal and collective growth. As spiritual counseling is holistic, there is no separation, no duality between personal or collective responses and reaction, as all are intrinsically linked. There is the awareness that life experiences become the greatest tool, with the integration of personal pains and personal journey.

The aim is for clients to express themselves and their world with intimate wisdom, spiritual awareness and personal authenticity, using integrity and wise use of their spiritual gifts, skills and knowledge.

What do spiritual counselors do?

Spiritual counselors recognize and are committed to a spiritual journey in their own lives, and the lives of others. By focusing on their core inner connection, creating an open-heart connection and a mindfulness state, they create a holding and sacred space for the personal unfoldment of their clients.

In spiritual counseling, the emphasis is on wholeness, dealing with the whole person, and assisting the client in inner balance and integration of all the dimensions of self. It is experiential and focuses on the client’s individual experiences and reality, so the counselor respecting them as unique assumes that the client’s reality is different from their own.

How can spiritual counseling help me?

As each client is seen as an individual the sessions are non-prescriptive and individually tailored. The counselor is creative, responding to the immediate issues brought by the client. The assumption is that human beings are innately motivated towards achieving their highest potential of awareness and fulfilment; the counselor's role is to support this and trust the client’s process.

The spiritual journey can be blissful and awakening, but also it can be arduous, frightening, and lonely. Anyone can have a spiritual experience or peak experience, but holistic self-realization is a different matter.

Having awareness of spiritual identity; we are all more than our personalities and our problems.

• Faith in self: that we have within us the wisdom to make the right choices.
• Faith in potential: that every situation has a potential for growth.
• Faith in the journey: that our lives have meaning.
• Faith in spirit: that we are truly spiritual beings.

What is trauma? Most of us typically think about “Big T” trauma associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) such as: combat, rape, and natural disasters. The official definition in the DSM-5 requires a person to have experienced or witnessed death, threat of death, serious injury or assaults. A more generous, and realistic definition is anything that has happened to you that was overwhelming or distressing, which you haven’t been able to process. Trauma can be caused by repetitive “smaller” traumas that accumulate from things like childhood neglect, emotional abuse, harassment at work, or bullying. Trauma can be caused by witnessing others’ experiences, such as EMTs, firefighters, ER nurses/doctors and police officers. Trauma can be experienced as a community, through natural disasters, marginalization, discrimination and prejudice.

But what does trauma DO to you? Trauma can cause many, widely varying, symptoms affecting thoughts, behaviors, emotions, body sensations, and relationships. It can create nightmares, flashbacks, social isolation/withdrawal, overreactions to loud noises, avoidance of thoughts/feelings, difficulty controlling emotions, irritable bowel syndrome, autoimmune issues, muscle tension… the list goes on. When we experience something traumatic, our brains don’t process information correctly. Instead, the information is stored in fragmented form, only on the right side of the brain, and in our “fear center” (the amygdala). This can cause our brains and bodies to send fragmented signals to us about the unprocessed trauma, through the symptoms listed above.

In order to make sense of the things that have happened to us, we have to find ways to fully process the traumatic events. This is where therapy can come in. Working with a professional who is trained in treating trauma can help us heal long after the events have happened. A trauma therapist can help you move beyond your symptoms, and finally begin to experience feelings of safety, relational connection, a good night’s sleep, and a calm mind. It is important to note that the pace and length of therapy for trauma can vary. Trauma is a spectrum, ranging from things like relational difficulty and anxiety to panic attacks, nightmares and PTSD – therefore it is important to pace ourselves as we dive into the deep waters of healing. 

Relationships can be thought of as agreements that partners decide upon. Some people may agree to be romantically and sexually exclusive to one partner (commonly referred to as monogamy), while some people may agree on varying levels of romantic or sexual openness with more than one partner. Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) is an umbrella term for relationships in which all partners give explicit consent to engage in romantic, intimate, and/or sexual relationships with multiple people. These are consensual relationships, not to be confused with infidelity. CNM is often called “being in an open relationship,” but can take various forms, including polyamory, being monogamish, swinging, and open relationships. It is important to note that a person’s relationship style is not an indication of their gender or affectional/sexual orientation.

Helping clients involved in CNM relationships to negotiate rules and boundaries is an important part of the therapy process. Rules can be about the frequency, type of sexual acts, the location, or even types of people. There is no one “right” way to be in CNM relationships, other than the fact that all people involved should be knowledgeable about the relationship structure and agree to this structure willingly. Some of the questions that guide open relationship rule-setting include: Can you have relationships with others, or only flings? Do you want to bring other people into your sexual or romantic settings? Do you want to know about each other’s outside liaisons? If so, when and how will you disclose to each other? What are the rules around safer sex methods? Couples/polycules who engage in CNM ideally have their rules written out before opening up their relationship, however, with the guidance of a therapist, this can be done at any point. While these rules are not written in stone, they may help to prevent any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. The rules can always be changed with mutual agreement as the relationship evolves.

Just like any other romantic and/or sexual relationship, CNM relationships can have their challenges. Many of these are related to improper communication, lack of openness and honesty, and jealousy issues. Additionally, societal views toward CNM tend to be negative and stigmatizing, even leading to pressure for some to hide their relationship style from close friends and family. It is important to work with a therapist who has a CNM-affirmative stance to help you navigate this journey as you decide if and how CNM is right for you and your partner(s).

Historically, BDSM (bondage, discipline/dominance, Sadism/submission and masochism) originated in Mesopotamia. Basically, it has always been around.  BDSM is an expression or lifestyle where people consensually derive pleasure from giving or receiving pain or power. “Kink” is more of a general term rereferring to sexual desires that are not perceived as societal norms.

Sadly, both dynamics are often pathologized, shamed, judged, and considered “taboo”. Many couples, intimate relationship systems such as polycules, and individuals are either embarrassed or ashamed to discuss this aspect of their life. Misinformation regarding BDSM/Kink, and stigma related to the practice are often accompanied by fear, shame, self-loathing, and anxiety.

Some common reasons folx seek treatment is to explore their sexual identity including soft-hard limits. People want to learn how to implement solid boundaries and communicate effectively. Sometimes people have come out of an abusive BSDM dynamic and are seeking trauma-informed care and healing. Other times, people struggle with compulsive behaviors related to BDSM/Kink and would like tools to manage behaviors.

Therapy can provide a safe, nonjudgmental space to explore these aspects of life while learning to deconstruct shame and manage potential anxiety related to these desires. Receiving tools and evidenced-based practices to better manage feelings, thoughts, and behaviors can be life changing.  ICT Therapyworks is a member of the Kink and Polyamory Aware Professionals Directory (KAP) through the Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF).