Understanding Minds
Psychological Services
Services
Continually Offering & Developing Collaborative Services to Meet Your
Mental Health Needs
Mental Health Physicals
At Understanding Minds, we believe it is time for a proactive approach to mental health!
Annual physicals are a way to take care of your body, and the staff at Understanding Minds believes we need the equivalent form of assessment, monitoring, and proactive approach for your mind. A mental health physical is a biopsychosocial assessment of your symptoms and mental health needs. Your Primary Mental Health Provider (PMHP) collaborates with you to identify mental health goals and make recommendations on the types of services that will help support those goals. You will schedule a follow-up appt. with your PMPH either six months or one year later to reassess and monitor progress depending on your needs.
Individual Therapy
Our confidential and supportive approach to individual therapy involves:
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obtaining mutual understanding of your presenting concerns
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collaborating to establish and achieve goals for treatment
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teaching you how to manage symptoms and implement healthy coping skills
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instilling hope and empowering positive change
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an approach that focuses on your specific needs and highlights your strengths throughout therapy
Couples Therapy
Our collaborative and supportive approach to couples therapy involves respect for all different relationship preferences and:
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begins with an assessment of each person’s reasons for seeking treatment and motivation to work on the relationship
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focuses on replacing maladaptive communication patterns and interactions with healthier ones
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aims to strengthen trust in the relationship
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increases self-understanding as well as understanding of your partner
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enhances emotional connection
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addresses physical intimacy
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teaches problem-solving and healthy boundaries
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can assist in deciding whether to continue or end a relationship
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can assist in healthy separation and co-parenting for those who decide to end the relationship
Family Therapy
Each family is a unique system with established patterns of communication, intimacy, as well as approaches to problem-solving and conflict-resolution. We collaborate with family members to:
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identify each person’s perspective of the problem(s)
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explore and establish goals for treatment
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replace unhealthy family system dynamics with healthier ones through improved: communication, empathy, conflict resolution, establishment of roles and boundaries, as well as emotional connection
Play Therapy
Children often express their thoughts, feelings, and behavior through play. Our practice offers a play therapy room with skilled play therapists to allow your children opportunities for:
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understanding emotion
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expression of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that they are unable to verbalize using language
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learning and practicing healthy communication, social, and problem-solving skills
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sand tray therapy
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directive play therapy
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non-directive play therapy
Group Therapy
Our staff collaborates to assess and determine what types of therapy groups are needed in our community. When a need is identified, our therapists work to develop therapy groups to address needs and enhance treatment so clients can achieve their mental health goals. Please do not hesitate to express interest in one of our current, past, or coming soon therapy groups.
Telehealth Therapy
Understanding Minds is excited to be able to offer telehealth services. Telehealth allows you to participate in therapy from the comfort and privacy of your own home or office using a computer or tablet. We use Zoom, a HIPAA compliant program. Telehealth can be the perfect option for working professionals, parents, students, persons with disabilities, and those who reside in rural areas and are looking for professional mental health services.
Telehealth is appropriate for most presenting problems but is not recommended for persons with suicidal or homicidal ideation, self-injurious behavior, substance abuse, eating disorders, psychosis, and some other presenting conditions.
Psychological Evaluations
Our psychological evaluations provide you with a comprehensive understanding of you, your child’s, or a loved one's cognitive, attention, emotional, behavioral, and/or personality functioning.
Psychological testing and evaluation reports:
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Provide essential information about one or more areas of functioning
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Clarify diagnoses based on multiple sources of data
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Include thoughtful recommendations based on you or your child’s unique needs
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Involve a feedback session to ensure your understanding of the findings
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Assess for anxiety, ADHD, mood disorder, OCD, intelligence, behavior problems, autism spectrum disorders, personality patterns/disorders, and more!
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Leave you feeling empowered as you have gained insight and understanding into into you or a loved one's psychological functioning with concrete steps for how best to proceed.
Academic Evaluations
Our comprehensive cognitive and/or academic evaluations will help you gain insight into you or your child's cognitive and academic skills.
These types of evaluations assess for
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Giftedness
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Intellectual Disability
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Learning Disabilities
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Attention Problems
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Behavioral Concerns/Patterns
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Therapy does not always have to be long-term. With SFBT, clients often report improvements in just a few sessions. This strength based model focuses on the present and what steps you can take now. Clients who are motivated to make changes often appreciate this approach to treatment. It is effective for a number of presenting problems including but not limited to the following.
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Trauma
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Relationship challenges
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Self-esteem
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Crisis management
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Stress management
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Specific life transitions
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Social anxiety
Parenting Consultations
Parenting is an ever changing process that requires new knowledge and skills every step of the way! Parents need support on their journey as they navigate the unique challenges and individual needs at each stage of development. We are pleased to offer Parenting Consultations to help support you in developing the skills necessary to feel confident in your parenting approach. The focus of these consultations is to enhance your understanding of the unique needs of your child and to provide concrete strategies for intervention and improvement. Some of the common topics addressed include:
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New baby
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Attachment
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Social-emotional development
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Activities and interests
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Impact of your upbringing on your parenting style
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Parent and sibling relationships
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Consistency, boundaries, rules, rewards, consequences
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Learning and academic needs
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Outside influences: friends, technology, social media
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Puberty and adolescence
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Substance use
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Empty nest
Brief Couples Assessment & Therapy
Many couples have a solid foundation with love, commitment, trust, and they also want to find ways to improve their relationship. With our brief couples model, each member of the couple will separately complete an assessment before meeting with a licensed provider for two to four sessions. Assessment results will be reviewed and goals will be established. Specific skills and strategies will be discussed to help enhance the relationship. This model requires active practice between sessions and is often a good fit for:
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Premarital couples
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Couples facing transitions at various stages in life
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Couples where one partner may be uncertain about couples therapy
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Couples who are not interested in diving deep into emotional discussions
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Couples with limited time to commit to long-term therapy
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Couples who are goal oriented and motivated to make change
Sleep Consultations
Quality sleep is essential to sound mental health. One of our licensed psychologists has taken a special interest in sleep and is now offering sleep consultations to help you improve your sleep. Addressing problematic sleep patterns can have a positive impact on your mood, energy, motivation, attention, and overall health. People often report improvements in their relationships and work performance when sleep improves. Sleep consultations are a good fit for you if if you are looking to educate yourself on the psychological and biological importance of sleep. They are beneficial if you are looking to address:
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Difficulty falling and/or staying asleep
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Establishing a healthy sleep routine
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Overthinking at bedtime
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Adjusting to or complying with interventions for sleep apnea
