Counseling
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The Emmaus Center offers individual, couples and family counseling. We are prepared to help clients with anxiety, dependency, depression, family conflicts, financial stress, unresolved grief/loss, phase of life problems, vocational stress, spiritual issues, or marriage difficulties.
Therapy sessions are confidential and private. The goal of counseling is to build capacity within the individual, couple, or family and empower them to manage issues that emerge from life changes. Some of these life changes or emotions can include grief, anxiety, depression or unhealthy behaviors. Appointment sessions are normally 45-50 minutes in length and are scheduled weekly, bi-weekly or as needed.
The Emmaus Center does not offer crisis counseling or crisis intervention and we cannot take walk-in clients.
Psychiatric emergencies are referred to providers that are qualified to handle such emergencies.
The staff of The Emmaus Center utilizes various types and techniques of therapy, depending on the presenting issue. The process involves an active interaction between the client and the therapist. Certain therapy approaches may be more helpful for some issues than others. If a particular strategy is not working, our staff will discuss this with you. There are certainly no guarantees that treatment will work for everyone.More information below:
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Individual Therapy
Traditional talk therapy as well as some expressive arts (if desired) to help work out emotional and psychological distress; deal with mental health illnesses; and/or other relational issues. We also have a counselor specifically trained in Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
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EMDRTherapy
A comprehensive therapy approach useful for overcoming stressful experiences of all kinds-even deeply embedded memories of traumas, which can be the basis of depression, anxiety, relationship challenges, phobias, fears, or performance issues. For more information on this type of theraputic approach, visit Hope in a Nutshell: EMDR therapy under Resources.
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Couples orMarital Therapy
The therapist works with the couple to strengthen the relationship and help it to become more healthy and fulfilling.
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FamilyTherapy
The goal is to help the family become stronger and healthier as a group. The focus is not on any one particular family member. This is useful for families who want to work on communication issues and how to be a happier family. This may occur when a child, tween, or teen is being seen and family sessions become an important part of the counseling process. A family may come in with a specific issue, like grief, loss, family transitions of some kind, which is best handled with the entire family. We work with each family’s unique needs.
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PlayTherapy
The therapist works one-on-one with the child/adolescent utilizing play techniques. The therapist will begin play therapy with a parent consultation in which the parent will be asked questions about their child/adolescent, including early development, current development, and presenting concerns. The play therapist will have follow-up parent consultations with parents as needed. For more information on parent's role in play therapy, please visit The Association for Play Therapy website under Resources.
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More aboutPlay Therapy
Children 2 1/2-8 years old have difficulty talking about their problems. Play therapy is to children what talk therapy is to adults. Play therapy uses a child's natural, developmentally appropriate medium of expression to help them express feelings, experiences, and beliefs more easily through toys. Play therapists often use the phrase, “Toys are the child’s words, play is their language.” We have 1 registered play therapist on staff.8 to 11 or 12 years olds, are in that in-between, confusing age (for themselves and their caregivers) of not yet teens but too mature for "baby" activities. We have a counselor trained in various expressive arts, including sand tray therapy, and experiential activities. These allow tweens to move forward to healthier coping skills and relationships.
Ages 13-17 or so -- teenagers -- experience a variety of difficulties as they try to sort out who they are and who they are becoming. Various life events can make this transition time a more difficult one. We have counselors that are trained to use expressive arts as noted above as well as traditional talk therapy and EMDR
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Sand Tray Therapy
In a safe, supportive environment, clients engage in this hands-on process to express thoughts, emotions, and experiences that might be difficult to verbalize. By building their own unique world in a sand tray, individuals gain insights into their personal struggles, relationships, and aspirations. This creative and experiential approach fosters healing, self-awareness, and personal growth, making it a powerful tool for both children and adults.
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TelehealthTherapy
Since our world changed with COVID-19, many clients participated in sessions via Telehealth. We will continue to offer this therapy format at The Emmaus Center. Telehealth Therapy uses our HIPAA compliant TheraNest platform to offer counseling sessions from a distance. Clients will be asked to complete a Telehealth Consent to Treatment. For more information, please visit How to Join Your Telehealth session under Resources.
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