(512) 695-1660
How I Can Help
I believe the most important element of effective psychotherapy
is the genuine connection between the client and therapist.
My approach to therapy is interactive, supportive and empathic. I see psychotherapy as a kind of creative process, with you and I as coworkers or partners in this highly individualized process of exploration and discovery.
I've found that the most effective therapy is focused collaboration between you and me. We'll work together to explore feelings of depression, anxiety, or shame, often the result of trauma.
My specialty is in integrating cognitive behavioral and insight-oriented techniques to best address your areas of growth. Psychotherapy helps people explore new ways of thinking and behaving – the building blocks for improvement.
Depression & Anxiety
Depression and anxiety can be overwhelming. Depression drains your energy, mutes color from the world, and leaves you feeling helpless, even hopeless. Maybe you can remember happiness, pleasure, and meaning, but those feelings are distant, and you fear you’ll never be yourself again. That's not having the blues, which comes and goes for all of us.
When the dark cloud of depression and anxiety descends, it can be a struggle just to get out of bed, show up for work or school, or simply be around others. As you isolate from those you love, your thoughts may grow darker.
Counseling can help by exploring new ways of thinking, feeling, and doing. You and I will work to uncover the underlying thoughts and beliefs trapping you with fear, anger, or low self-esteem. You'll learn where you're stuck and learn to make healthier choices. My goal is to help you tailor your own best-fit treatment plan. You will relearn how to trust your own inner healer: your intuition.
Feeling Stuck
Do you ever feel burdened with the sense that you're flawed or defective, or worry that you’re a failure, so why even try for your dreams? Shame may be causing you to feel this way. When we’re stuck, we tend to procrastinate tasks that could help us to get unstuck and move forward.
By avoiding the pain of doing the work, which feels like a relief in the moment, we actually end up making ourselves feel overwhelmed in the long haul. Or we can be such perfectionists that the task becomes a burden, and the goal gets thrown into the do-it-tomorrow file. Except we don’t get around to it. Sound familiar?
EMDR
With the help of counseling, you can take a more objective look at your inner dialogue, the one that keeps you “safe" (thus stuck). Through our therapy sessions, you'll learn how to get what you really want, rather than what you’ve settled for. You’ll develop powerful tools, like self-discipline. EMDR is just one of many types of therapy that I return to because I've found it to be so effective with my clients, delivering such positive results.
Think of it this way. When you've experienced something traumatic, your brain retains those images, emotions, sounds, and thoughts. When painful memories are triggered, you may feel shocked, numb, frozen, anxious, angry, or afraid.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. It’s research-based therapy with over 20 years of scientific backing. EMDR utilizes the natural healing ability of your body.
EMDR has been proven effective in healing negative responses to trauma by stimulating the same benefits created in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. After only a few treatment sessions, EMDR may help free you from the suffering, negative beliefs, and triggers caused by the original trauma.
The first step can be the hardest. If you're suffering from anxiety or depression, it can be difficult to find the motivation to try something new. No matter how hard it is, the first step brings you closer to what you want.
Take that first step! Call me at (512) 695-1660, fax me at (512) 829-4543 or email me at leslie@leslietourish.com.
We'll schedule a time to consult and find out how I can be of service to you as a therapist. All calls and emails are confidential and answered within 24 hours. (If you need my return call to be confidential, note that in your message.)
I look forward to helping you make lasting positive changes in your life!
Phone: (512) 695-1660
Fax: (512) 829-4543
