I specialize in helping individuals overcome anxiety and panic, and reclaim a life of peace and fulfillment.
Therapy can be an effective form of treatment for depression as it can help you delve into possible underlying causes of your depressive symptoms and learn new skills to cope.
With my guidance, the transformative power of EMDR can help you move beyond the pain of your past and embark on a journey towards recovery and well-being.
Trauma is, unfortunately all too common. It can be a single event (big 'T' trauma) or a series of small 'insults' (small 't' trauma). EMDR is particularly effective in treating trauma.
If self doubt and negative beliefs are impacting your confidence, find out how I can help you build a healthier and more positive sense of self by clicking below
I use my strong business and creative background to help you develop successful strategies to improve work performance and business relationships.
As an experienced therapist, I employ a multi-pronged approach to treating anxiety and panic. We'll start by building an understanding of the body and mind, and examine when and how anxiety or panic shows up and impacts you. Then I'll teach you some exercises, incorporating mindfulness, to help calm the nervous system and thus calm your mind and body.
I'll teach you coping strategies to empower you to manage stress, regulate your emotions, and engage in self-care practices that promote overall well-being. I utilize CBT to identify and challenge the negative thought patterns and beliefs that contribute to anxiety. We'll also look at where in your past your anxiety might have it's roots and use EMDR to treat for lasting relief.
Depression can stem from past events that inflict emotional distress and disrupt well-being. Examples include traumatic experiences like abuse, violence, natural disasters, or loss.
Childhood adversity, like a dysfunctional family or neglect, can shape mental health in adulthood. Chronic stressors like financial difficulties or relationship problems can wear down resilience, resulting in depression. Although not everyone experiencing such events develops depression, factors like genetics, support systems, and coping strategies also influence susceptibility.
We'll work together to identify what may be the root cause of your depression and tailor your treatment accordingly, using a combination of CBT, mindfulness, EMDR, and regular talk therapy.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extremely effective treatment for anxiety, some forms of depression, PTSD, and other issues. It is essentially a fast track therapy – studies show that distressing symptoms can be alleviated more rapidly with EMDR than with talk therapy alone.
EMDR is a fascinating treatment that specifically targets the distressing memories and associated negative beliefs that arise from trauma. During EMDR sessions, I'll guide you to focus on negative memories while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation. This process helps you reprocess the experience, by reducing the emotional intensity and power of memories, and diminish their power to trigger distressing symptoms. You'll then be able to integrate the memories adaptively into your overall life narrative and find resolution.
EMDR therapy also helps challenge and reframe negative beliefs about yourself that may affect your self esteem, your relationships, and even your work performance. In doing so it can help you develop a more positive and adaptive self-perception. As you might imagine, EMDR can be effective as part of coaching for creative artists and business executives.
Many people have an image in their mind of how life is supposed to be. You might have a lot of ‘shoulds’ about yourself: “I should be more successful / further in my career / happier / a better parent,” and so on.
When reality doesn’t match up to the picture, you might feel you’ve missed out, or failed somehow. Or perhaps you experience panic at the thought of meeting people or going out. Does this sound like you?
We might use CBT to identify your negative thought patterns and replace them with more positive and realistic ones. By challenging distorted beliefs and engaging in positive self-talk, you will gradually overcome self-doubt, build self-worth, and ultimately improve overall well-being.
We'll use EMDR to identify where the low self esteem might have originated and create transformation and healing. EMDR targets past negative or traumatic experiences that may have contributed to low self-esteem. By reprocessing these memories, EMDR helps release emotional distress, build resilience, and develop a more positive self-image.
Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are significant mental health concerns that can have profound effects on a person's well-being. Trauma can refer to a distressing event or series of events that overwhelm an individual's ability to cope. Or trauma can be with a small 't', and refer to events that typically don't involve violence or disaster, but do create significant emotional or psychological distress. Some people develop PTSD following a traumatic event.
I don't believe that talk therapy on its own can treat trauma or PTSD so I use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help people heal from trauma and manage PTSD symptoms. Click here for more about EMDR.
We will work together to identify the main issues and then develop a plan for you to achieve your goals. EMDR can be particularly effective to improve performance when negative beliefs might be getting in the way. I have had a lot of success in this area.
CBT focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, aiming to identify and change negative patterns of thinking and behavior that contribute to distressing symptoms. We'll work together to identify your goals and then introduce some of the following CBT techniques to help reduce symptoms:
1. Identifying and challenging negative thoughts that might contribute to your distress to help develop more balanced thinking patterns.
2. Restructuring cognitive distortions such as overgeneralization, black and white thinking, or catastrophizing.
3. Learning coping skills such as relaxation techniques, problem-solving, assertiveness training, and emotional regulation strategies.
4. Gradual exposure therapy
5. Behavior activation - engaging in activities that bring you pleasure, accomplishment, and fulfillment, to help your mood and overall well-being improve.
Are you ready to get on the path to a healthier you? Get in touch today to get started!
Catriona Waters, LMFT
595 E Colorado Blvd, Ste 509, Pasadena CA 91101
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