Services
Services I Offer
I offer therapeutic services for individuals, couples, and families. I specialize in working with those suffering from anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, sexuality concerns, and life transitional issues. I also offer group therapy services that address specific areas such as relationship challenges, anxiety, eating disorders, and sexual issues. As well, I have substantial experience and comprehensive training in the treatment of both offenders and victims of violent offenses.
My additional experience in working with individuals, families, and groups within the juvenile justice system also affords me the opportunity to support positive changes in the lives of at-risk youths and families. I take pride in using my skills in a graceful and creative manner to address sensitive issues and aid each individual on the path of healing and recovery.
A primary goal of my clinical practice is to ensure that those needing psychotherapeutic services find the most beneficial and appropriate assistance available. If you have any questions or concerns, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to contact me via phone or email.
Anxiety, Depression, and Trauma
We live in a very chaotic, stress-filled world. As a result, many women and men suffer from chronic anxiety, depression, and the effects of trauma. While medication can sometimes be very helpful, psychotherapy can help you understand and often resolve the underlying causes of your distress. In therapy, you can also learn how to minimize life stressors with simple, effective techniques that bring immediate relief. Whether you are experiencing mild anxiety, severe panic attacks, or ongoing depression, appropriate support can help you find the relief you deserve. If you are suffering from the effects of trauma, whether PTSD or Complex-PTSD, know that you are not alone and that healing is possible. No matter what you are facing, trust that support awaits you. You need not face life’s challenges alone.
Couples Therapy And Relationship Guidance
With busy, stressful lives, we often neglect our most intimate-and most vitally important-relationships. Interpersonal strife often increases when relationships are left untended, and dysfunctional patterns may take hold. Although not all relationships can be salvaged, even those that are moving toward separation or divorce can be improved and healed by therapy that offers support, conflict resolution, and increased understanding of the self and the other partner.
Services For Families
Families In Conflict Or Crisis
Many families encounter significant periods of difficulty as natural life transitions occur. It is often difficult for parents to successfully navigate the wide variety of issues and problems that arise as their families grow and change. In a world that is often chaotic and overly stressful, single and married parents alike often feel that they do not have the resources to resolve ever-changing family issues. As our family structures continue to change and broaden, many families face the additionally complex challenges of divorce, extended family issues, and step-family concerns. Parents and children alike often feel overwhelmed and stressed by increasingly intricate family dynamics. Unfortunately, tension, anxiety, and frustration often result, and this leaves family members feeling even more alienated and confused.
My work with families is focused on fostering open and healthy relationship patterns. In a safe and controlled setting, family members are given the opportunity to learn productive behaviors that diminish blame, increase communication, and create positive relationship patterns. Problematic behaviors that add to family dysfunction are addressed, and more productive patterns are discussed and put into action. As the family learns to function as a healthy unit, family members find substantial relief from the concerns and anxieties that led them to seek therapy. Although many families hope that problems will fade if they hide them behind closed doors, professional assistance is often required to successfully heal the underlying issues. Families of all shapes and sizes struggle with life’s challenges; you and your family are not alone. Please reach out for support if you are in need.
Aging Families in Crisis
As parents age, adult children are finding themselves in the unenviable position of addressing difficult personal issues that affect the well-being of their elderly parents. In addition, as couples age, one spouse often finds that the burden of important decisions is a heavy, confusing, or unwanted weight. Difficult emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt often arise, and family members may even turn against each other. As battles emerge over healthcare decisions, housing, financial matters, and personal care concerns, families often become entrenched in arguments and other unhealthy patterns.
Offering an objective, neutral voice and a supportive forum, I work with family members to assist in sorting through the challenges that arise as a normal part of caring for elders. Making use of positive communication skills and structured guidance, special sessions to mediate such issues are often highly beneficial for aging families in crisis. As we focus on specific concerns and viable solutions, families experience a great sense of relief and resolution as stress and anxiety subside. This type of therapy, often very short-term in nature, brings a welcome sense of understanding and cohesion to those affected by the difficult and trying issues that arise during times of transition. There is no need to struggle alone with these difficult experiences and concerns; professional assistance can make all the difference in handling the highly sensitive and challenging issues that face our aging population.
Services For Men Of All Ages
I have accrued substantial experience in working with young men who are striving to gain insight and self-mastery tools as they mature. In addition, in treating at-risk populations, I have had the opportunity to provide consistent individual and group support and guidance to males who have struggled with personal and law-related issues. As males age, the challenges and stresses of life change, yet many of the issues (relationships, career, and personal identity) remain the same. Whether you are seeking assistance at the age of 16 or 65, my practice allows me to skillfully address each individual’s specific needs.
Services For Women Of All Ages
I offer both individual and group therapy services for women. In working with females ranging in age from their early teens through later adult years, it has been my privilege to guide women through various challenges and tremendously life-altering transitional periods. Younger women increasingly face early crises in regard to issues such as eating disorders, personal identity, and low self-esteem; my practice is geared toward helping the individual understand, and heal from, the underlying issues.
Similar concerns-often worsened by the passage of time and life stresses-face women as they age. Confusion and a sense of “being stuck” often gives rise to anxiety and debilitating depression. Regardless of your age, my therapeutic goal is to attend to current stressors while also offering a safe-yet challenging-environment that promotes and supports life-changing thoughts and behaviors.
Sexuality and Gender Identity
Sexual Abuse And Sexual Assault
Sexual crimes are often not reported, and this results in a lack of appropriate treatment for both the victims and perpetrators of sexual offenses. An advocate for the prevention of further sexual offenses, my work focuses on “breaking the silence, healing the wounds, and stopping the violence” associated with these issues. Victims of sexual offenses often suffer as a result of unhealed psychological wounds inflicted by crimes such as incest, molestation, and rape. Due to a lack of treatment and support, victims often feel broken, defective, depressed, and angry; such feelings can remain even decades after the offense.
In working with both victims and offenders, I am adept at addressing a wide variety of issues related to sexual abuse and assault. As a specialist in the area of sexual offenses, it is extremely rewarding to be engaged in wide-reaching efforts to heal victims. In addition, my ongoing efforts with sexual offenders allow me to offer education and therapy in order to bring an end to the cycles that perpetuate sexual crimes. There is no time like the present to begin to address the damage caused by sexual abuse and sexual offenses. If you, or someone you know, is a victim or perpetrator of a sexual offense, please seek professional assistance as soon as possible.
Sexual Addictions And Pornography Addiction
In addressing addictive sexual behaviors, I work with clients to recognize unhealthy thoughts and damaging behavior patterns. As the client’s understanding increases, appropriate and satisfactory habits are fostered to replace problematic thoughts and behaviors. This methodology serves to alleviate the symptoms, yet it also remedies the underlying problematic issues. My training in CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) is well-suited to addressing addictive sexual behaviors. By addressing the problematic patterns of thinking and the beliefs that underlie detrimental thoughts, this type of therapy addresses both the behavioral and emotional components of sexual addictions.
Guilt, dissatisfaction, a sense of emptiness, and increasingly low self-confidence often result from ongoing sexual addictions. As well, intimate personal relationships may be negatively affected by sexually addictive behaviors. It is often difficult to seek assistance for issues of such a private and personal nature, yet treatment can offer a successful resolution. By engaging in therapy that promotes healthy thought patterns and positive interactions, problematic sexual addictions are replaced by more fulfilling behaviors and interactions. As a psychotherapist trained in resolving sexual addictions and related disorders, I offer a safe and confidential treatment environment.
Sexual Intimacy
Many individuals and couples struggle unnecessarily with concerns surrounding sexual intimacy. Healthy sexual intimacy is a crucial aspect of relationships, yet there is often a lack of open and honest discussion on this important topic. My work with sexual intimacy focuses on allowing individuals and couples to explore personal beliefs as they affect sexuality. Many times, problematic sexual issues can be resolved by addressing thought patterns and beliefs that inhibit true intimacy.
By encouraging awareness of negative thoughts, beliefs, and emotions, open communication begins to pave the way toward greater intimacy. Frustration and anxiety diminish when partners are able to communicate openly about problems, fears, inhibitions, and desires. Sexual intimacy increases as honest communication allows personal topics to be addressed openly. Relationships prosper when formerly “secret” topics are discussed naturally and honestly. As the discomfort of secrecy and fear dissolves, clients begin to welcome and embrace true sexual intimacy. As a clinician skilled in working with sexual issues, I create an empathic and secure setting in which to address and resolve sexual intimacy concerns.
Dream Analysis
Although some individuals do not remember their dreams upon waking, extensive research has confirmed that we all experience dreams. Our dreams often yield important information from the unconscious, information that is often highly relevant to the individual’s current life issues. Through this approach, I work with clients to help them better understand the messages contained in their dreams.
The unconscious, as a part of the psyche that contains abundant information, often reveals wise and beneficial guidance in the form of dreams. Dreams can be very important, for the messages in our dreams are often not available to the individual’s conscious mind. Certain clients desire dream interpretation and analysis to foster personal insights. Such individuals often find that dream work is highly beneficial in the healing process and furtherance of self-discovery. By tapping into the unconscious mind through dream work, balancing, supportive images and thoughts often arise; this yields vital information that the busy, overly rational mind generally ignores.
Due to my training in depth psychology and focus on Jungian and archetypal psychotherapy, I find that dream work is a wonderful adjunct to traditional psychotherapy. Dream analysis, when used as an supplementary tool in psychotherapy, often offers clients critical insights that promote greater understanding, healing, and wholeness.
EMDR Treatment
For those suffering from issues such as anxiety, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and Complex PTSD, my specialized training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) offers an alternative or supplementary form of treatment. Clients often experience substantial relief from their symptoms as a result of the EMDR method. For more information on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, you may contact me directly or call the EMDR International Association at: 866-451-5200. You may also visit the website for the EMDR International Association at: www.emdria.org
Referrals
As a psychotherapist, I cannot hope to meet the unique needs of all potential clients; when an individual has presenting needs that might be better served by another therapist, I gladly make referrals. In situations such as chronic substance abuse and domestic violence situations, referrals are available for outside support and group counseling services. As well, please refer to the section entitled “Resources” for listings and contact information for community services and important nation-wide services.
Contact Me
Making the decision to contact a therapist is often difficult and anxiety-provoking. If this is how you feel, know that you are not alone. It is common to feel worried when encountering new situations, especially those that involve addressing your most personal thoughts, feelings, and life circumstances. When you are ready, please feel free to telephone me at (707)236-0012. If you prefer e-mail, a message may be sent to info@drcarlamanly.com
I reply to e-mail messages as time permits, often within 24-hours. Telephone voicemail messages are checked routinely, and I respond as quickly as possible. All inquiries are confidential as protected by applicable laws.
In the event of an emergency, immediately call “911.”