Welcome to Avita Integrative Care

The forefront of a comprehensive mental health practice
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Strive towards a more balanced existence

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Happiness is not about what the world gives you

happiness is what you think about what the world gives you
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Our Services

Psychological & Counseling Services

Psychological & Counseling Services

While we provide a number of treatment specializations, our approach to psychotherapy is individualized to meet the specific needs of our clients. Our integrative psychotherapies can incorporate cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, existential-humanistic, and mindfulness-based techniques. All of our psychotherapeutic approaches place an emphasis on the strength of the therapeutic relationship and the first priority is to build the trust necessary for growth. Our goal is to create an environment that is validating, non-judgmental, and genuine, and at the same time, encourages effective change. We strive to facilitate an experience that helps people live a healthier lifestyle, reduce suffering, develop the skills they need, and create a sense of meaning in their lives. A mental disorder is combination of a wide range of conditions that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. It may have many different symptoms, intensities, underlying causes, and treatment options. Sometimes symptoms of a mental illness are difficult to identify initially, and may even be misleading. For example some psychological symptoms may appear as physical problems, such as stomach pain, back pain, headache, or other unexplained aches and pains. Since most mental disorders do not improve on their own and if left untreated and may even get worse over time, it is important to get a consultation with a qualified mental health professional. The good news is that in most cases, symptoms can be managed well with psychotherapy, or a combination of medications and psychotherapy. Adult Services Adjusting to Difficult Changes Adjustment Disorder Agoraphobia Bipolar Depression Chronic or Terminal Illness Complex Trauma Death of a Loved One Divorce or Break-up Drug Addiction Dysthymia Family/relationship issues Generalized Anxiety Loss of a Pet Major Depression Managing Stress Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Panic Attacks Performance Anxiety Phobias Postpartum Depression Pregnancy Loss or Fertility Difficulties Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder PTSD Search for Meaning in Life Seasonal Affective Disorder Self-Actualization Separation Anxiety Sexual Trauma Situational Depression Social Anxiety Survivor of Abuse Trauma Veteran Services Work Related Anxiety Adolescents Academic Struggles Behavior Problems Boundaries Chronic Illness Dating Death of a Loved One Depression / Bipolar Disorder Difficulty Making Friends Drug Use Family Conflict Gender Identity Increased Irritability Learning Problems LGBTQ Low Self Esteem Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior Parental Divorce Adjustment Perfectionism Poor Body Image Poor Peer Relationships School Anxiety Sleeping Problems Social Anxiety Stealing Suicidal Thoughts or Self-Harm Survivor of Abuse Weight Issues When you are suffering from a chronic disorder or an unexpected illness, or when you simply need to talk through some difficult decisions without compromising confidentiality and objectivity, our clinicians are ready to support you all the way through. Our practice specializes in assisting intelligent, high-functioning adolescents and adults to mobilize their inherent strengths toward achieving their highest potential and wellness. You can be assured – we are committed to providing the best level of care. Please Contact Us to Inquire about Including Video and Phone Sessions: Avita Integrative Care offers online therapy sessions via video conference and Phone Session. It is a wonderful way to help individuals get the help they need when it may not be feasible to come into a therapist's office. Virtual therapy and phone sessions are often requested by business professionals, parents of minor children, and adolescents without transportation to the office.

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Biofeedback Services

Biofeedback Services

Biofeedback is a powerful set of tools we use to reveal your body’s level of stress and how it improves when you apply the simple skills of stress recovery that we teach you. It’s non-invasive and can even be fun! Using biofeedback, clients are helped to gain awareness of many physiological functions of their mind and body. The key to biofeedback is the use of sophisticated technological instruments that provide information on the activity of critical to survival systems. For example, sensors are tuned to pick up subtle information gathered from one's brainwaves, muscle tone, skin conductance, heart rate and pain perception, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will. We all have stress, but not all stress is bad. Medical research has shown that stress which lasts too long or is too high is known to cause illness and compromises your immune system. Many psychological, physiological and environmental factors are involved in developing the ability to control one's response to the stressors. In biofeedback training sessions, clients are taught some simple, effective techniques to intervene with stress responses. Since each individual has their own signature stress response, an individualized assessment and treatment plan helps clients to take control over their physiological reactions. In our unique approach, we utilize some of the cutting-edge technology and proven knowledge of psychophysiology helps clients to go from stress to stress recovery and from depressed immune system to improved health. Clients learn how to maintain their stress recovery, and to respond to future stress with confidence, consistence, and equanimity. Some of the well-documented benefits of using biofeedback in clinical settings are: Transform the detrimental effects of your stress. Strengthen your immune system. Maximize cancer or other treatment synergy for improved health. Manage pain and discomfort of disease or treatment. Shift the effects of anxiety and depression. Reduce symptoms of numerous GI conditions. Reduce the effects of ADD and ADHA Cultivate serenity within yourself. Improve work performance and cognitive function. Eliminate test-taking anxiety Biofeedback clinician collaboratively develops a unique treatment program for each patient, which may require an average of 7-10 sessions. However, evidence demonstrates significant improvement experienced even with a single session. Successful treatment is contingent upon patient participation through daily dedicated home practice and training, combined with subsequent and progressive treatment sessions. Although most patients often experience an improvement and relief from many symptoms almost immediately, it is important to remind that despite being a powerful tool, Biofeedback does not a promise of a cure for most of the above listed disorders.

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Divorce Mediation Services

Divorce Mediation Services

Mediation is a process of discussion and negotiation, a problem solving method where an impartial third party assists you in reaching an agreement between you and your spouse that would be the fairest to both of you. Mediation works successfully for families who are in a processed of divorce as well as families that are faced with some challenges that need to be resolved. Those families don't usually need to engage in hours of psychotherapy, but rather have one to two productive session to reach a workable solution. You and your spouse will meet with our mediator and through asking you questions, will bring out all of the issues that need to be decided, and will lead you to resolutions that are equitable and mutually acceptable. Your mediator will serve as an impartial arbiter to help you find the most suitable compromise resolutions to your dilemmas. Many cooperative couples more often choose this alternative while going through their divorce. Families with high conflict need mediation even more to avoid the high costs of litigation and the deepening conflicts that result from the adversity inherent in court litigated “divorce solutions”. How Does it Work? Regular mediation process includes an orientation session which gives the opportunity to get to know each of the parties involved. Most of the first mediation meeting is usually dedicated to listening to a couple’s mutual and divergent perspectives, gathering information, answering questions and presenting an agenda for our following meetings. The most important goal for the first mediation meeting is to create an atmosphere where both parties will feel comfortable with the whole process and secure in the non-threatening and cooperative nature of the meetings. During the course of the mediation process the divorcing couple will need to make many serious decisions about their assets and liabilities, parenting and child support, spousal support (if necessary) and the couple’s living arrangements. We will focus on the future and make arrangements that take all family members into consideration. At the end of the mediation process, your mediator will prepare a Memorandum of Understanding, a detailed document outlining your divorce arrangements that will be used by one of your attorneys to create your Property Settlement Agreement, or can be filed to court by one of the parties should you decide to forgo the attorneys' review. We strongly believe that, the direct participation of the divorcing couples in creating their own voluntary agreement, results in a document that is much more likely to be upheld and honored by both parties (as opposite to a legal decisions handed down to them by the courts). In the mediation process, the main goal of the mediator is to facilitate communication, promote understanding, and assist the parties in reaching fully informed solutions that will work for all involved. Though we have to consider the legal statutes and case law, the mediation process still affords much latitude for you to work out an agreement that is suitable for the entire family. Your most important goal during mediation is to prepare yourself mentally and recognize that a divorce settlement will be reached only if and when both parties’ major goals are met. You will also need to keep in mind that divorce mediation is a negotiation process where both sides will need to work very hard in balancing an agreement and recognize that neither of you will get your “wish list”, and both of you will need to give up on some points in order to gain on the others. An important point to stress once again, is that mediation process really works: statistics indicate that over 89% of all divorce mediations result in settlement. This is true even where all prior attempts at settlement have failed, where the parties were pessimistic about the prospects of settlement, and where the parties have spent substantial amounts of time and money preparing for trial. With such a success rate, it is wise and relatively inexpensive to try mediation. You have little to lose and a lot to gain!

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Our Team

Blogs

What Is Biofeedback

WHAT IS BIOFEEDBACK and HOW WE USE IT TO OPTIMIZE YOUR COUNSELING EXPERIENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS AT AVITA Biofeedback involves the use of highly specialized, highly sensitive, non-invasive technology that identifies your body’s physiological stress markers. Stress markers generally indicate inordinate stress, as well as resistance to or inability to recover from that inordinate stress. As long ago as 1994, over 70 medical conditions and diseases had already been definitively linked to chronic stress! Many forms of Biofeedback have been around for a long time—some over a hundred years! Because of this long history, we have a huge body of normative data to provide us with the parameters that provide a healthy range versus a compromised state for these stress markers. A familiar example of one basic but important type of Biofeedback is a thermometer! Another is a blood pressure cuff. While these two measures are common health indicators, they are also Biofeedback tools that flag physiological stress. Our goal is to assess the feedback markers and then help you learn an effective skill set of techniques to mitigate your habitual or uninformed behaviors and cognitive responses to the detrimental stressfulness we experience- to create a “life toolbox,” if you will. We help you learn how to: Recognize Recover from and Master your response to anxiety and stress Manage yourself in the face of events and situations that create stress in your life. EYou will develop the skills to drive ASR [Autonomic Self- Regulation], strengthen your HRV [heart rate variability,] and become independent in using them with high efficacy. EYou will learn the process of creating and sustaining constructive change; rather than being pulled back to the anchors of old and/or detrimental behaviors and responses. The outcome: you will feel and function better in your private, personal/family, professional and social life. Instead of being reactive; you can you use these skills to be proactive in your life. Instead of being the passenger in your own life, you will learn to become the pilot… Cognitive function will improve; your counseling will be more effective because you will be more receptive to and successful with the process of change, and will be enabled to being more attentive during the sessions. Frequently, business or work performance improves as well. © Ellie Wolf JULY 2018

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Resolve to recover: Tips help you to stay the course

Image courtesy of Pixabay Choosing recovery is the best decision you could make. It’s important to set yourself up for success by continuing to make good choices throughout your journey. Here is important advice to help you stay on track through 2018. Make it Count Your recovery is an investment in yourself. You’re investing in your health, your lifestyle and your future. Take the opportunity to reframe your life and renew who you are. According to Psych Central, here is how to make the most of this investment. Your mindset. Many people enter recovery with negative feelings weighing on them. It’s possible you experience feelings of hopelessness or failure. Instead, focus on the fact that you are taking positive steps. What you’re doing is courageous and you should commend yourself for your choice. Be realistic. Remember that you’re in a program for a disease. Addiction doesn’t go away, and you won’t be “cured.” As some experts explain, many people enter rehab during a crisis, and aren’t necessarily thinking of long-term resolution but want a quick fix that makes others happy. However, you are reframing your life and learning new behaviors, thought patterns, and new methods of how to conduct yourself. This is a lifelong commitment that will get easier as time goes on. Embrace structure. Most rehab programs are full of rules, and you may feel restricted or somewhat insulted by the supervision and guidance provided. However it’s for your benefit to let go of some freedoms during the early part of your journey. Be open minded. Remember many people struggle with addiction. In fact, some studies reflect a rapidly growing issue in America. You may be surprised at how much commonground you share with others. You could discover connecting with other addicts is an encouragement in your journey. Staff and therapists can teach you about what you are experiencing. People around you are partners in your challenge, so remember they are working to support and assist you. Similarly, share your own story as you go. There can be healing in acknowledging your path. Persevere. The journey of recovery is not an easy one. There may be times you want to give up, you may receive advice you don’t like or you may find there are aspects of who you are that make you feel bad. Recognize that every time you push through these events, you will enter a new phase of healing. Your New Life It’s important to realize you will be rebuilding your life. You will need to evaluate all of your relationships and lifestyle in order to make healthy choices that promote your well-being. If someone is detrimental to your healing, it’s important to step away from the relationship. Similarly, you need to find an appropriate place to live following rehab, one that will support your good choices. You’ll want to find a place that helps you create a healthy, consistent routine without throwing you into the paths of old triggers. You’ll also want a loving environment to rebuild your relationships and bond with your family, a place where you can heal and focus on your recovery. Set yourself up for success by making the most of your investment. Maintain a great outlook and rebuild your life in a healthy way.

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