By: Jennifer Baxt, LMFT, LMHC, NCC, DCC

Online counseling for substance abuse <!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>

There are hundreds or even thousands of people throughout North America who suffer from substance abuse, either with prescription drugs, street drugs or alcohol. Many of these people are unaware that help is just a phone call, visit or click of a button away; others are aware of the help available but they don’t feel that it will do them any good. Most are aware of the live help lines or the crisis lines they can phone in order to talk to someone, but most don’t feel that these will help them. What they need is therapy or proper counseling, but most will do their best to avoid talking to a stranger in person about their problems. For people who want help, but are uncomfortable talking with a therapist or a counselor in person, there is online therapy or counseling. (more…)

By: Derek Ayre

Click here to contact Derek and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

One of the biggest barriers to success I find when consulting with new clients is there tends to be a difficulty in committing to transforming the way they handle their problems and my first task is establishing a commitment to make the changes necessary, especially where phobias are concerned. (more…)

By: Sam Schaperow, MSMFT, LMFT

Because getting a divorce will end a marriage, but not a family, some divorcing couples with children are opting for couple therapy. Often one spouse is interested in keeping the marriage together, while the other has a sliver of hope for the marriage, but both want to enhance the quality of communication for the sake of the children after the divorce. One of the biggest challenges with such couples comes from the level of anger stemming from months, years, or decades of dissonance. Often one or both spouses come in expecting the therapist to fix or show measurable progress within a matter of several sessions. The reality is that it takes time for trust to develop amongst the three people in the room, and only when trust is there can the most significant progress be made. This leads to the question of what can you request and do to increase the odds that you will either help the marriage or help the communication for the child(ren). (more…)

By: Kent Toussaint, MA MFT

Click here to contact Kent and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Many parents don’t really know what independent study or home school is. Others see it as a sign of failure. It doesn’t have to be that way. For some teens, home school can be a great alternative to traditional high school.

What is “home school?” Do I have to stay home all day and teach my teenager trigonometry?

That is one option… but probably not a particularly fun one for either of you. There are several independent study schools to choose from; some charter and others private. They will work with you to create a curriculum that best suits your teenager’s needs towards graduation and a good education. (more…)

By: Sam Schaperow, MSMFT, LMFT

Couple Therapy: The Three Dimensions of Success <!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { color: #0000ff } –>

Sam Schaperow, MSMFT, LMFT, the counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, returns for his third column. Previously he wrote about evaluating children who were misdiagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, then how psychotherapy can help people reach new levels of efficiency and productivity at work while reducing work stress. Now he will help readers to understand how successful couple therapy involves many factors that you will want to understand before choosing to help or enhance your marriage or intimate partnership.

There are many dimensions to good couple therapy. To simplify our understanding, we will focus on three dimensions: “The Assessment”, “The Couple Therapist”, and “The Couple”. (more…)