Feeling off? Depressed, frustrated, not your normal self? Maybe it is time to see a Counselor.
Recognize What’s Typical & What’s Not
COVID-19 has many people feeling unlike themselves – not just physically, but mentally as well. Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life. Everyone reacts differently to difficult situations and it’s normal to feel stress and worry during a crisis. However, multiple challenges, such as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, can push you beyond your ability to cope. Many people may have mental and physical health concerns, such as symptoms of anxiety, depression, and fatigue. You may find yourself feeling helpless, sad, angry, irritable, hopeless, and/or confused. When symptoms such as trouble concentrating, changes in appetite, body aches and pains, or difficulty sleeping last for several months in a row, it’s time to seek help.
How Can Christian Counseling Help?
A Christian counselor helps clients manage their emotions and relationships in healthier ways. Emotions like depression, anxiety, and anger can result in harmful behavior in an effort to cope. Therapeutic techniques like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which focuses on helping people understand how their thoughts impact their feelings and behaviors, is often used to help individuals learn new cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social skills. Christian counseling combines CBT with biblical principals to combat patterns of negative thinking and behavior. For these new skills to be most effective, clients practice them between therapy sessions. Using homework assignments, clients can practice new coping strategies and challenge harmful beliefs. This leads to building positive relationships and growing their faith and trust in God.
The Therapeutic Process
God created each of us in His image with unique characteristics, talents, skills, and attributes that make up the essence of self. Christian counseling helps individuals integrate God’s truths and how God sees them with how they relate to the world. The therapeutic process involves counseling, using these and many other counseling and coaching modalities.
- Studying God’s divine design and purpose gives individuals focus and direction to face the future courageously. Gaining an understanding of God’s promises and building faith and trust in God can help conquer fears and lead to inner peace and contentment.
- Learning to pray, meditate, and use mindfulness helps the individual gain awareness of thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and behavioral urges and how to cope or change.
- Learning about brain health is equally as important as learning about heart health. God made a magnificent brain. Understanding how the brain works can help those with ADHD, PTSD, addictions, and chronic negative emotions. Coaching clients to modify behavior, regulate emotions and negative thoughts, as well as making lifestyle changes, are just a few of the ways to improve brain health for a more positive and fulfilling life
- Coaching on Interpersonal Effectiveness Communication helps individuals identify how they interact with the people around them and within relationships. Clients learn effective communication strategies to identify emotional triggers and cope with interpersonal conflict. This is used with couples, children, and teens.
Seek Help
The counselors at Royal Palm Christian Counseling, are here to help you navigate life’s changes. Schedule time for a session in person. We also offer group, video, and tele-counseling for adults, children, and teens. Call us today at 239-939-0707!
Colleen Shue M.Ed. Counseling,
Certified in Biblical Counseling and Brain Health Coaching.
Specializes in Life Coaching, Play Therapy with children, Counseling individuals with ADHD.