Being the son of an athletically gifted father, Nate felt overwhelming pressured to make his father proud by proving his worth through sports. The more he tried to gain acceptance from his father, the less validation he received. As fear of failure and rejection dominated his thoughts, anxiety and panic attacks became an issue in his everyday life. This eventually led to self-sabotaging behaviors with pot and sex. After reaching out for help to address a likely addiction, he learned how to set boundaries with his father, drugs, and unrealistic expectations of himself. He is an engineer now and watches sports with his father on TV.

Annabelle came to my office with a desire to stop returning to an abusive husband who emotionally abused and physically intimidated her. As he apologized and purchased expensive gifts to suppress the memories of abuse, he was able manipulate his way back into her life for years. After extensive therapy, Annabelle has since divorced him, and learned how to identify the same character traits in other abusive people.

Jake reluctantly came to my office with anxiety caused by fears of failure. Obsessive thoughts of losing in sports permeated his thoughts, which would become self-defeating and ultimately self-fulfilling. Restless nights during football season and panic attacks prior to going onto the field became all-consuming and bled into other parts of his life. After addressing the issues in therapy that triggered his fear, Jake has overcome his battle with fear of failure, rejection, and performance anxiety.

Matt is a 49-year-old male who overcame a 15-year addiction to porn. However, his continued secrecy and unexplained disinterest in sex with his wife, led her to find Matt having an affair with a woman he had met online. After in-depth individual and couple’s therapy, Matt finally accepted responsibility for his actions and became committed to a life of honesty; with himself and others.

Leslie was young woman who originally came to therapy to receive help for anxiety. She had been molested by a family member and suffered greatly as a result. She used food and exercise to control her emotions, which only temporarily numbed the effects of her trauma. Binging and purging became an obsession and addiction. Through the counseling process, she learned how to love herself without abusing her body, trust others, and control her anxiety. She is now a nurse and lives with her husband in Wyoming.

Cara is a successful executive working in the corporate world. She was recently divorced and struggled with depression and resentment. The effects of her divorce created a lack of interest in social settings, and a generalized distrust in others. Apart from work, Cara started avoiding people and isolating. This is when she used therapy to learn how to take back her power and move towards the future. She put away the past by forgiving those who had hurt her and focus on her own wellbeing and state of mind. She stays focused on her direction by periodically dropping into a therapy session for personal accountability.

Robert’s wife gave him an ultimatum to get help after discovering that he was having an affair for the third time. He loved his wife but felt overwhelmed with the therapy process and unsure if it could help with his guilt and shame. Through his accountability to his wife and to himself throughout the course of his therapy, Robert learned the cause and effect relationship of his betrayals and was able to redirect his emotions. He and I were able to replace self-destructive behaviors with positive behaviors. In closing and in Robert’s words, “I learned how to forgive myself and help others by sharing my story with others without shame. My wife is a saint and the love of my life.”