Individual Psychotherapy

Finding the right match

Finding the right therapist to work with is the first and most important step that leads to success in therapy. That is why, at CEPS, we have a dedicated Care Coordinator (Luisa), to help you find the right therapist to help you with your needs and according to your preference. Our Care Coordinator will ask you a few questions to understand what you are looking for, and will help you understand your insurance benefits for out-of-network therapy services. You can get started by emailing us at intakes@centerforeffectivetherapy.com or call us at 202-595-1834. If you know which therapist you want to work with you can also let our Care Coordinator know, so that we can help you get started!

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 15-MINUTE PHONE SCREENING

If you would like to talk with your assigned or chosen therapist prior to schedulig an intake, our Client Care Coordinator can help you schedule an appointment or you can also schedule directly with the therapist by emailing them. This phone consultation allows you and your therapist to identify your main concern and desired outcome for psychotherapy. You can take this opportunity to get a “feeling” for the therapist and to ask any questions you may have about the process.

Schedule your intake session

Once you have been matched to one of our therapist, you will be filling out our intake paperwork. This will allow you to access our Client Portal (for easy scheduling, and where one of our online therapy platforms is hosted). on the day and time of your appointment you will log-on and meet with your therapist in the virtual room. Once we resume in-person sessions, you will be asked to come into the suite at the time of your appointment as seating in our waiting area will be extremely limited. We hope things go back to normal at some point, so our clients can enjoy relaxing and helping themselves to coffee, tea, or water in our waiting area. But sadly, we will have to wait until it is safe to offer this again!

THERAPY FOR ANXIETY

Anxiety is a normal human experience that alert us when something that we have been avoiding (feelings, thoughts, memories, decisions) are in need of attention. Anxiety is usually accompanied by discomfort, physically and emotionally. You may experience dificulty with sleep, shortness of breath, restlessness, aches and pains, tension in your body, gastrointestinal problems, or problems with concentration. Anxiety can also be related to patterns of thoughs, emotions and behaviors that threatens our sense of safety, or our needs for control, certainty, approval, and love. Therapy for Anxiety can help you learn to identify internal and external factors that make you anxious, learn skills to regulate your nervous system, and face those fears that keep you stuck in reactivity or paralysis.

Therapy for Anxiety

Therapy for depression

We all feel sad from time to time. It is common to be sad after a break up, as a result of chornic stress or illiness, or a significant loss. Depression is usually diagnosed when the feelings of sadness, are accompanied by other symptoms such as self-doubt, lack of motivation, loss of abilty to feel joy or experience pleasure, changes in sleep and eating, increased self-critical thoughts, that more than two weeks. Therapy for Depression can help you uncover the patterns of thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that contribute to symptoms, helping you to take control over your emotions, givieng you hope, reclame your birthrigth to live a lilfe full of meaning, and your abilty to experiece joy.

Therapy for Depression

Therapy for relationship difficulties

In therapy, we work on relationships. The most important relationship is the one that you have with yourself, and getting to know yourself deeply, and accept yourself unconditionally is often a goal and outcomes of therapy. Relationships with ourselves and others are often at the root of our emotional suffering. Learning how to navigate the challenging dynamics of being in relatioship with others can be accomplished in individual and couples work. When we seek Therapy for Relationship problems, we learn to identify and take ownership of our role in the problems, we notice patterns of old relatioships that often are repeated in new relationships, undermining our chance for happiness. In Couples’ therapy, individuals come together, often after many years of experiencing problems, when they feel at the end of the rope, and hopeless. Couples therapy can be a life-changing experiencing.

Therapy for Relationship Difficulties

therapy for grief

Grief is a normal emotional process brought about by an experience of loss. Grief can become problematic when the intensity of the feelings becomes overwhelming, or when we get stuck in shock, denial or become unable to feel. Grief is embedded in trauma, immigration, transitions in life, loss of status, etc. Therapy and support for grief can help you move through this process in a way that feels compassionate and supported, so that you can embrace the possibility of a new future that is meaningful while honoring your past.

Therapy for Grief

therapy for trauma

Traumatic events leave us feeling overwhelmed, confused, and often stuck in the past. Trauma affects the way we think, feel, move, breath, think, dream, and often the way we relate to ourselves and others. Trauma can be the result of a single event (such as a car accident, sexual abuse, earthquake), or a series of events (childhood neglect, abuse, or bullying, terrorism, war). Therapy for Trauma starts with learning strategies to regulate our nervous system, and symptom reduction. In later phases, memories may be revisited in a safe, compassionate manner, to then help integrate new meanings to past and future experiences.

Therapy for Trauma

Mental health literacy

At CEPS we believe in the importance of psychoeducation as a tool to improve our community wellbeing, and to reduce stigma about mental illness and psychotherapy. We invite you to read our blog, and to check our Events page for announcements about past and upcoming workshops, webinars, and talks on a wide range of topics.

Our blog