Our Services

Sierra Counseling Services offers a variety of therapeutic interventions via our telehealth platform. Providing 100% telehealth services allows us to make therapy convenient for you. With evening and Saturday sessions available, book a time that works best for your schedule.

Feel free to browse the services below, and please contact me if you have any questions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT is a short-term, problem-focused form of behavioral treatment that helps people see the difference between beliefs, thoughts, and feelings, and free them from unhelpful patterns of behavior.

CBT is grounded in the belief that it is a person’s perception of events – rather than the events themselves – that determines how he or she will feel and act in response.

CBT can help with:

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Panic attacks

  • Phobias

  • Obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD)

  • Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

  • Substance dependency

  • Persistent pain

  • Disordered eating

  • Sexual issues

  • Anger management issues

Most people with clearly defined behavioral and emotional concerns tend to reap the benefits of CBT. If any of the above issues resonate with you, I encourage you to try cognitive behavioral therapy.

With CBT, you’ll be able to adjust the thoughts that directly influence your emotions and behavior. This adjustment process is referred to as cognitive reconstructing, which happens through different CBT techniques.

Some CBT techniques are:

  • Journalling

  • Challenging beliefs

  • Relaxation

  • Meditation

  • Mindfulness

  • Social, physical and thinking exercises

Cognitive behavioral therapy is much more than sitting and talking about whatever comes to mind during a session. CBT sessions are structured to ensure that the therapist and the person in treatment are focused on the different goals of each session, which in turn ensures that each and every session is productive.

If you or someone you know would benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy, please contact me today. I would be happy to speak with you about how I may be able to help.

Therapy For Anxiety

Is anxiety taking over your life? Does it feel like you can’t control it no matter how hard you try? Have you already tried therapy but found it ineffective?

If this sounds like you, I’m confident I can help. My practice offers the most effective forms of treatment, to get the relief from anxiety that you deserve.

When it comes to treating anxiety disorders, research shows that therapy is usually the most effective option. That’s because anxiety therapy – as opposed to just anxiety medication – treats more than just symptoms to the problem.

Often, these are the symptoms of anxiety:

  • Nervousness, restlessness or being tense

  • Feelings of danger, panic or dread

  • Rapid breathing or hyperventilation

  • Increased or heavy sweating

  • Trembling or muscle twitching

  • Weakness or lethargy

  • Difficulty focusing or thinking clearly about anything other than the thing you’re worried about

  • Insomnia

  • Obsessions about certain ideas, a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder

  • Anxiety surrounding a particular life event or experience that has occurred in the past, a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder

Therapy can help to uncover the underlying causes of your worries and fears, learn how to relax, look at situations in a new, less frightening way, and develop better coping mechanisms and problem-solving skills.

If you or your child suffer from an anxiety disorder, I invite you to contact me today for a free consultation.

Counseling for Trauma

Most people will experience trauma in their lifetime whether it’s a car accident, abuse or neglect, the sudden death of a loved one, a violent criminal act, exposure to the violence of war, or a natural disaster.

While many people can recover from trauma over time with the love and support of family and friends and bounce back with resiliency, others may discover the effects of lasting trauma, which can cause a person to live with deep emotional pain, fear, confusion, or posttraumatic stress far after the event has passed.

In these circumstances, the support, guidance, and assistance of a therapist are fundamental to healing from trauma.

Trauma Symptoms

According to the four types of symptoms listed in the
DSM-5.

Avoidance Symptoms

  • Avoiding specific locations, sights, situations, and sounds that serve as reminders of the event

  • Anxiety, depression, numbness, or guilt

Re-experiencing Symptoms

  • Intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or flashbacks

Hyperarousal Symptoms

  • Anger, irritability, and hypervigilance

  • Aggressive, reckless behavior, including self-harm

  • Sleep disturbances

Negative Mood and Cognition Symptoms

  • Loss of interest in activities that were once considered enjoyable

  • Difficulty remembering details of the distressing event

  • Change in habits or behavior since the trauma

Research has proven psychotherapy to be the most effective form of treatment for trauma. Most commonly, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is used in treating trauma.

If you or someone you know matches the trauma symptoms listed above, I am confident that I can help and invite you to contact me today for a free consultation.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Do you experience intense anxiety or nervousness when faced with social situations?

Do you fear being judged or criticized by others?

Are you always worried about making mistakes, looking bad or being embarrassed in front of others?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you may have a social anxiety disorder. While it is normal to feel nervous in some social situations, people who experience daily social anxiety tend to avoid everyday interactions that cause them significant fear, anxiety, self-consciousness, and embarrassment because they fear being scrutinized or judged by others.

People with Social Anxiety Disorder often experience significant distress in the following situations:

  • Being teased or criticized

  • Being the center of attention

  • Being watched or observed while completing a task

  • Having to say something in a formal, public setting

  • Meeting people in authority, such as important people or authority figures

  • Feeling insecure and out of place in social situations

  • Embarrassing easily

  • Meeting other people’s eyes

Social anxiety disorder is a chronic mental health condition. Learning coping skills in therapy sessions can help you gain the confidence you need to improve your ability to interact with others.

If you feel you may have a social anxiety disorder, I encourage you to contact me today for a free consultation.

Therapy for Depression

you feeling hopeless, isolated and not your usual self?

Do these thoughts often enter your mind?

  • I am worthless and can’t do anything about it.

  • I feel guilty for just wanting to eat, sleep and be alone.

  • I hate who I am these days.

  • I can’t stop crying, which makes me want to stay away from others.

  • I feel gut-wrenching pain, but no one understands.

  • My life and the world around me are dark. I hate it, but I can’t change it.

If you have had any variation of these thoughts and don’t feel like your usual self, chances are you may be suffering from depression.

I want you to know that you are not alone and there are people who can help. Many of my clients find relief in realizing that their struggle does not own them and that there are many options available to once again have hope for their lives.

I understand the social stigmas that come with label of being depressed, and thus aim to help clients sort out their environmental, biological and circumstantial factors while offering support and care through a very dark time in their lives.

If you are hoping to finally lighten this load and feel like yourself again, contact me today for a free consultation.