Our services for adults, adolescents, children, couples and families

Individual counseling and therapy
We meet individually with you to help you address the issues that are concerning you.  Counseling involves collaboration with a trained therapist who guides you in exploring and understanding your thoughts, feelings and behaviors in a supportive and confidential setting.  Therapy enables you to cope more effectively with the issues that are concerning you, to make meaningful changes in your life, and to achieve greater life satisfaction.

Child and adolescent therapy
We work with you and your child to help your child feel better and to improve his or her relationships with others.  We focus on social-emotional, behavioral, and developmental concerns. When needed, we can also provide consultation to the school to facilitate your child’s educational experience and development.

Couples therapy
We help couples and individuals in all types of relationships. We provide a safe place to concentrate on relationship issues and discuss concerns about communication, parenting, conflict resolution, separation or divorce, sexuality and intimacy, finances, and/or stressful life transitions.  We will help you to discover new ways to interact with your partner in order to rekindle the closeness you once shared.

Family therapy
We help you improve family relationships that may be strained due to divorce, conflict, or other issues such as finances, illness or depression. We include members living in the household and, at other times, we may involve extended family members.

Parent education, support and coaching
We help parents become more effective in raising happy, responsible, and self-confident children.

Stress management
We work together to strengthen your ability to manage the unavoidable stressors in life and to diminish their negative toll on your mind and body.  We teach relaxation skills, encourage you to make lifestyle changes, and develop strategies with you to more effectively handle the stress and complexities in your life.  The goals are to improve mind/body health, achieve greater well-being, and promote resilience.

Developmental psychological, and neuropsychological assessment
We help you find answers to the puzzling question of what is going on with you or your child. We provide assessments for children, adolescents, and adults that enable us to make diagnostic and treatment recommendations. We are experts at assessing learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, developmental disabilities including Asperger's syndrome and autistic spectrum disorders as well as behavioral and emotional issues that may interfere with your life goals or relationships. We will also assess your child for giftedness and school readiness. In addition, we provide evaluations for gastric bypass surgery, pre-employment, and third party reproduction services.

Group therapy
Groups provide an opportunity for you, along with the other group participants, to discuss mutual difficulties, to support and learn from each other, and to increase self-understanding.

Consultation, training and workshops
The therapists at Associates in Health Psychology provide information and skill development on mental health related issues to health care agencies, businesses, schools and community and religious groups.  Consultation is individualized to meet the needs of the group.  Areas of expertise include conflict resolution, stress management, team building, communication/interpersonal skill development, and critical incident stress debriefing.  We offer presentations on balancing career and family, coping with depression, anxiety, grief and loss; establishing effective communication in the family or workplace; living with chronic pain or illness; self esteem enhancement; stress management; and weight management/eating disorders.

Health Psychology

We work individually with you, or together with you and your family, to help you mange physical problems, to slow down or prevent health issues from becoming worse, and to reduce disability due to acute injuries or chronic diseases. Our goal is to improve your well-being and to assist you in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Cancer and illness
We understand the emotional pain and worry when you hear that you have cancer or a life threatening chronic illness. We can help you deal with the emotional and physical challenges that these diagnoses bring. We also understand the anxiety and feelings of helplessness that your family and friends may experience. We can be there with you to help you cope with this array of feelings you may experience, ease marital or family strain, and assist you in clarifying your desires regarding the variety of treatment options available to you. Talking with a therapist who understands how a life threatening illness affects you can help in preparing for medical procedures, managing the stress of treatment and rebuilding hope.

Disability
Life is difficult when you have a disability. Dealing with changes in abilities, changes in expectations you have of yourself and that others have of you, as well as dealing with the frustrations you may experience in activities of daily living, can be overwhelming and disheartening. We are here to help you find ways to live a healthier, happier and more capable life.

Gastric Bypass

Gastric Bypass is a lifetime commitment. You need to know all the facts and issues to prepare for the changes involved. We meet with people who want to explore whether or not Gastric Bypass is the right option for them, and provide the psychological evaluations that are required by most surgeons prior to undergoing a gastric bypass procedure. We help you become better prepared for your new lifestyle.

And, our support does not stop there. If you are experiencing difficulties after having gastric bypass surgery, we can help you adjust to the necessary lifestyle changes to maximize your new healthier lifestyle. Gastric bypass patients who participate in ongoing post-surgical support achieve the greatest level of success after weight loss surgery. You made a tough choice for a healthier life; let us help you achieve it fully.

Sleep Difficulties

Sleep is essential for your physical and emotional well being. Many people are not aware that sleep loss has been associated with heart disease, hypertension, obesity, depression, irritability and impaired performance. We work with you to find solutions that will help improve your sleep and give you the rest you need for your health. The sleep experts at our practice use behavioral and psychological approaches to help you sleep better throughout the night. We are available to help you with all different types of sleep related problems including:

1) Chronic Insomnia Chronic Insomnia leads to many additional problems. Being deprived of the sleep you need leads to stress and irritability, trouble concentrating, greater absenteeism, and significant safety issues in the work place and on the road. Our structured program will help you identify the underlying causes of your insomnia, and put you on the path to conquering them. This program will also look at your environment, your behaviors around sleeping and help you develop more sleep inducing routines.

2) Discomfort and/or anxiety with Continuous Pressure Airway Pressure treatment (CPAP) CPAP can cause great discomfort and anxiety. Learning to adjust to using it can be challenging. Our treatment for clients needing to use CPAP machines is aimed at slowly increasing their comfort with the machine with the goal of being able to sleep well throughout the night. We guide you through relaxation training and systematic desensitization to help lessen your discomfort with CPAP.

3) Depression and anxiety that interfere with sleep Living with depression or anxiety is difficult enough without being exhausted. It is hard to take on the challenge of each day when you don't have the energy to do so. We help you to address psychological concerns that interfere with your sleep utilizing our expertise in both psychology and in sleep medicine. Many people with depression or anxiety often have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Together we find solutions to enable you to achieve a more restful sleep.

4) Coping with symptoms of chronic illness or pain that impact sleep Physical problems often interfere with the ability to fall asleep or stay asleep. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort, it is difficult to sleep well. Medications that you take may also have a side effect that contributes to your sleep difficulties. We partner with you to find workable solutions that will help you sleep well so you can awake feeling refreshed.

Pain Management
Chronic pain destroys lives. Living with continuous pain can lead to great emotional and physical suffering. We understand that the experience of chronic pain impacts many areas of your life and well-being. We also know that different people respond differently to pain, and that talking with a therapist about pain management does not mean that your pain "is in your head" or that "your pain is not real". Our goal together is to help you stop enduring a painful life, and start living a better pain-managed one.