SERVICES
Joshua Tree offers several counseling options to help clients from from hopeless to healing in a comfortable, inviting, and private office setting. We believe that healing IS possible, that hope can be restored and lives and relationships can be changed.
The words counseling and therapy are often used interchangeably but there are a few noteworthy distinctions that may help guide you in how to select a mental health professional to help you with your specific concerns and goals.
Counseling
Counseling is typically short-term. Counselors offer support and guidance, focusing on “present day problems that may be affecting your overall mental health and well-being” (Healthline.com, 2020). Grief is an good example that illustrates the need for counseling because the loss of a loved one is a present day concern impacting a person’s overall ability to function. Once a person has grieved the loss, counseling generally comes to a close. Counseling generally lasts week to months.
Counseling is the process of figuring out what to do about the issue or situation that is causing a person’s distress or dysfunction. Of course, during counseling it may become clear that deeper issues are impacting the person’s ability to grieve and it may be necessary to transfer care to a therapist.
Counselors have varying degrees ranging from a bachelor’s degree to a doctorate degree and they may have certifications but they aren’t required to be licensed.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy tends to be longer-term because the focus is usually on the influence of the past on present-day functioning. Whereas people who seek counseling generally have an idea of what the issues that brought them to counseling, people who seek psychotherapy may have more general concerns like trauma, feeling disconnected, instability in relationships, or they may present with a major mental health diagnosis in need of ongoing support. Therapy may last months to years.
Therapy is the process of unraveling the why behind a person’s suffering AND developing strategies to cope with or change their circumstances.
Therapy is a state regulated practice which requires adherence by the therapist to a code of ethics, and licensing rules and standards. They must have a minimum of a master’s degree and should be licensed.
While a psychotherapist is qualified to provide counseling, a counselor may or may not possess the necessary training and skills to provide psychotherapy. — VeryWellMind.com, 2020
Rachel is the founder of Joshua Tree Counseling and a licensed professional counselor who specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation; PTSD and DID; suicidality; Borderline Personality Disorder; anxiety; spiritual wounding, and childhood verbal, emotions, and sexual abuse. She works with clients towards developing tools and strategies to use in the here and now and also helps clients better understand and untangle those early messages from childhood holding them hostage. Rachel is EMDR trained. When faith and Christian values are an important aspect of therapy to the client she weaves this into the counseling experience.
Marybeth is a pastoral counselor who specializes in Christian counseling with married couples, engaged couples, teen girls, and individuals. She offers marriage counseling and pre-marital counseling, offering practical strategies to re-connect, communicate, and heal. She works with individuals struggling with anxiety/depression; grief/loss; life transitions; and child and relationship issues. Marybeth is an ordained minister of pastoral care and has a doctorate in Christian counseling; she values the integration of faith into the counseling experience She is a certified life coach, Enneagram coach, and therapeutic art coach.
Chet is a licensed professional counselor who specializes in marriage counseling, working with couples towards communication skills, relationship building, and problems that relate to family issues. Chet also specializes in working with individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, stress, self-esteem, and family-of-origin issues. He’s an ordained pastor who attributes dignity and extends radical acceptance to every client. He values being “warm and human first; professional always.” He holds a doctorate in counseling psychology and has 40 years’ experience as a Christian-based therapist, pastor, and pastoral counselor.