Our Approach
to Counseling
We provide a variety of counseling services for individuals, couples, families, adolescents and children. Our services are delivered through individual, group and intensive settings. Our approach is multi-dimensional and informed by the latest research and trends in both secular and faith-informed counseling practices.
While sensitive to each person’s faith perspective, Grace Nova Counseling is operated to provide counseling with a distinctively Christian framework to the local community. Counseling services are provided by independent Christian professionals who have earned a Master’s Degree, or higher, from an accredited graduate program, and who have been licensed by the State of Virginia or provisionally licensed by the State of Virginia as registered residents or interns as defined in and governed by Virginia Statues.
We provide therapy services for children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. The first appointment(s) serves as an intake appointment. We will want to hear about the difficulties that led to you making an appointment, your goals for therapy, and general information about you and your current life circumstance. By the end of this first appointment, we will give you some initial recommendations on what we think will help. If we do not think we are able to best assist you, we will give you names of other professionals who we believe would work well with your particular issues. If you do not agree with our treatment recommendations or do not think our personality styles will be a good match for you, let us know and we will do our best to suggest a different therapist who may be a better fit.
Counseling Services
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Individuals
Individual counseling provides a place to help you explore your past, your present and your hopes for the future. We assist as you explore and understand your inner world and underlying beliefs and how these beliefs impacts your view of self and your relationships with others. Our counselors work with wide variety of issues including anxiety, attachment repair, communication, depression, divorce recovery, emotional eating, gender issues, grief and loss, infidelity, obsessive and compulsive behaviors, parenting issues, pornography, self-esteem issues, self-injury, sexual abuse recovery, sexual addiction, shame, spirituality and trauma.
"I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow.
Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state but a process."
_
C.S. Lewis A Grief Observed
Couples
Our counselors are trained both in the The Gottman Method and Emotional Focused Therapy for couples. Our clinicians work with couples to understand their relationship blocks and work to repair relationship ruptures. Providing a safe place for couples to explore both their fears and longings in relationship, our counselors help couples develop a deeper sense of intimacy. This work can be done early in the relationship through pre-marital and newlywed counseling or at any point in the relationship history. Our goal is to build connection, safety and depth in the marriage relationship.
“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.
To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.”
_
Tim KelleR
Children and Adolescents
Parenting in today’s culture is hard. It is also hard to be an adolescent. There are many competing voices and both parents and kids are often left confused as to where to turn.
Our counselors work with children and adolescents within the context of their primary relationships. We believe the greatest healing occurs by strengthening the attachment bond whenever possible. This work can be done through individual, family or group sessions. Our counselors working with children are trained in play therapy, and believe play is the natural language of children.
"When parents offer their children empathy and help them to cope with negative feelings like anger, sadness, and fear, parents build bridges of loyalty and affection."
_
John Gottman
We provide services for the following:
- Abuse and Neglect
- Anger
- Anxiety and Stress
- Attachment Repair
- Codependency
- Communication
- Depression
- Divorce Recovery
- Emotional Eating
- Family Issues
- Gender Issues
- Grief and Loss
- Infidelity
- Marriage Issues
- Obsessive/Compulsive Behaviors
- Parenting Issues
- Play Therapy
- Pornography
- Premarital Counseling
- Self Esteem Issues
- Self Injury
- Sexual Abuse Recovery
- Sexual Addiction
- Sexuality Issues
- Shame
- Spirituality
- Trauma and PTSD