Services
Individual Counseling and Psychotherapy
Individuals seek counseling for a wide variety of circumstances. Consulting with a professional can help a person get to the heart of their concerns more quickly and objectively than what may be possible talking with friends or family members. I work with a broad range of mental health and life concerns: anxiety and phobias, mood disorders, trauma, relationship difficulties, alcoholic / dysfunctional family of origin issues, work and family stress management, and other life transitions and adjustments.
My goal is to involve clients in actively addressing their problems and developing mastery in their lives. I use a variety of traditional and innovative approaches, including Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Energy Psychology and EMDR for rapid treatment of a variety of issues, and Mindfulness Therapy that involves the use of traditional Buddhist practices of awareness, attention, and reflection. For information about these approaches, click on the "Links" button to the left.
Couples Counseling
From the days of dating and courtship, through early marriage and the stresses of childrearing, to the middle-age crises and beyond, couples face challenges. Poor communication skills, low self-esteem, sexual problems, affairs, and difficulty expressing and asserting feelings can distort couples original love and friendship and make it difficult for them to function healthfully. Even the normal stresses of family and career can push an otherwise healthy relationship into a spiral of misunderstanding and hurt feelings.
Couples counseling provides needed communication skills and problem solving to help partners get back on track, and even to heal deeper hurts and mistrust that block their capacity to love. New ways of seeing and relating to one's partner are possible. And, even when a couple decides that they are committed to ending the relationship, counseling can help make the difference between adversarial conflict and respectful cooperation.
I especially enjoy the opportunities for dynamic sharing and interactions that couples counseling affords.
Dual Diagnosis and Addictions Recovery
People in recovery from addictions to alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, and other compulsive/addictive behaviors, find that the help of a therapist can augment and further the recovery they have already begun through primary treatment programs and 12 Step support groups. Recovering persons often encounter issues about which they need more exploration and treatment, including other co-occurring mental/emotional conditions and illnesses such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorders. Often these "dual" conditions have worked together to bring unmanageability to the person's life, and likewise need to be handled together to bring workability and recovery.
From my background working in direct addiction settings, as well as with issues of co-addiction and codependency, I bring a familiarity and insight into the issues of the addicted person as well as those of family members.
Lifestyle & Wellness
Many people today are becoming acutely aware of the role that lifestyle factors play in their overall health and wellness. We can hardly read a newspaper without seeing articles and studies about the importance of diet, exercise, stress management, recreational activities and hobbies, and time to relax and rejuvenate. And we all experience in our personal lives how hard it is to adopt these healthy practices and integrate them into our lifestyle.
I have a special interest in the area of wellness and lifestyle practices. I believe that whether one has a diagnosed emotional problem or not, healthy lifestyle practices are an important first step in gaining stability, confidence, and happiness in our lives.
I urge all my clients to focus in this area and also work specifically with clients whose primary need is support and coaching to help them change their lives in these very important ways.
Telephone Consultation and Counseling
While not always the ideal manner in which to talk with a therapist, telephone sessions are an outgrowth of our increasingly technological world and ways of conducting business, and it can be an effective way to connect and get help. Telephone sessions can be arranged for those seeking support, short term intervention and advice on any variety of issues. Sessions can also be augmented with email and suggested readings and other resources to address a phone client's concerns.
To contact Dr. DiDomenicis, call (510) 915-2647, or email at Fran@DrFranD.com
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