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Wherever you are in your journey, trust that compassionate support awaits you.
Dr. Manly specializes in:
As no person or relationship is the same, Dr. Manly’s depth-focused approach incorporates vital elements of attachment theory, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to meet each client’s unique needs.
You deserve to enjoy a life filled with love, joy, and purpose.
When you are ready to create change in your life, contact Dr. Manly at info@drcarlamanly.com.
We live in a chaotic, stress-filled world. As a result, many people suffer from chronic stress, anxiety, unresolved trauma, and depression. While medication is often 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 anxiety, panic attacks, burnout, or depression, appropriate support can help you find the relief you deserve.
If you are suffering from the effects of trauma such as PTSD or Complex-PTSD, healing is possible. No matter what you are facing, trust that empathic support awaits you.
Loving relationships are the foundation of a joyful life. All too often, the patterns we unconsciously learned in childhood—or picked up as adults—create unhealthy dynamics that affect our most intimate and vitally important relationships. The cycles of avoidance, conflict, and resentment that often keep couples stuck can be healed by creating healthy emotional connection.
From addressing attachment issues to fostering connective communication skills, my approach focuses on helping partners adopt positive, relationship-changing patterns. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 or agency, I gladly make referrals. In situations such as chronic substance abuse and domestic violence, referrals are available for outside support and group counseling services.
In case of emergency, always call “911” or other emergency hotline number.
Trust that you have the power to create positive change in your life. One step at a time, you can transform your life in the most wonderful ways. When you are ready to move forward, email Dr. Manly through the contact form on this page or by calling (707)236-0012.
Dr. Manly replies to e-mail messages as time permits, often within 24-hours. Telephone voicemail messages are checked routinely and will be responded to as quickly as possible. All inquiries are confidential as protected by applicable laws. In the event of an emergency, immediately call “911.”
Good Faith Estimate Notice: You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate outlining the cost of your healthcare services (both medical and mental health care). By law, healthcare providers are required to an estimate of expected charges for non-emergency services to clients who are not utilizing insurance or who do not have insurance. Prior to scheduling services, Good Faith Estimates can be requested from healthcare provider(s). Bills can be disputed if they are at least $400.00 more than the Good Faith Estimate; be sure to save an image or copy of your Good Faith Estimate. Visit www.cms.gov/no surprises or call (800) 985-3059 to learn more about your Good Faith Estimate rights.
“Fear Has The Ability To Bring Us To Our Knees In Self-Doubt. It Also Has The Capacity To Bring Us To The Greatest Heights Of Who We Are.”
–Dr. Carla Marie Manly, Joy from Fear –
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