It's official -- Salem Counseling Center is open! We can't wait to start collaborating more with our clients and community.
If you're already connected to Winston-Salem, then you know that our town has more to offer than ever in so many different ways. New restaurants, businesses, art and music scenes, and even a complete overhaul on some major local roadways are all happening -- right now. For us, jumping into the mix during this season of investment and growth is exciting.
So exciting, in fact, that our resident SCC Mascot, Patty, is pretty overwhelmed.
In this post, we'll share a little about:
how to know when it might be a good time to connect with us (and how to),
an outline of what to expect in later articles, and,
some fun stuff to watch out for.
"When should I call a counselor?"
So - when is it a good time to contact a therapist? Well, the short answer is "Whenever you want." But that's probably not what you're asking, really. In reality, counseling can be a tool for many different reasons: prevention, problem-solving, crisis-management, celebration of growth, and on and on. Even so, as far as we've come, there's still a lot of stigma around the idea of therapy. It is pretty cool to see, however, how much more mainstream and open large-scale conversations about mental health and therapy have become, even just within the last couple years.
More and more research is showing the complex intertwined relationship between physical and mental health, making it ever more clear that taking care of ourselves and others in psychological, emotional, and relational ways is essential to human wellbeing. We'll resist the urge to expound upon the "No Duh" factor involved in these conclusions until a later post.
Instead of telling you when or when not to contact a counselor, let's look some of what the counseling services at Salem Counseling Center can offer, and see if any bells ring:
Support & guidance when facing career decisions or sudden life changes
New skills for communicating better with your colleagues, partner, friends, or family
Setting boundaries more effectively so you don't keep feeling like a doormat
Managing boundaries more effectively so you don't always feel so alone
Prevent chronic negative thoughts from paralyzing your ability to make decisions
Encouragement when you're feeling overwhelmed or stuck
Learning new ways to overcome anxiety or depression
Overcoming the effects of past trauma (whether you're currently experiencing symptoms or not)
Understanding more about yourself
Setting goals and making progress in areas like work, relationships, health, and your passions
Break cycles of addiction, abuse, and find freedom
Create better strategies for managing your role as a parent (or as a child!)
Explore your family system and the ways it may influence your present
Build on the changes you've made - strengthen your momentum so that you keep up the good work
Start having a healthier relationship with yourself (reduce negative self-talk, criticism, etc.)
Develop increased confidence and assertiveness
Process a loss in your life and feelings of grief, anger, or numbness that won't go away
If any of the above areas resonate,
then our counseling services (or those of another professional you trust) can be a great asset to have in your resources. There are frankly so many different ways that counseling can be helpful that it's hard to answer the question directly. Another question to consider might be "What in my life would I like to be a little better?" A separate key service that Salem Counseling Center, other therapists, and most healthcare providers offer as well is that of helping clients find good referrals for specific concerns. For example, if you call Provider X and ask for Service B, but they don't provide Service B, Provider X will then help you get connected to other providers who do.
If after looking at that list above you have questions about our therapy services or how counseling can be helpful for you, don't hesitate to contact us through the options on our Contact Page. Whether you decide we're the best fit for your needs or can help you find a better one, that's why we're here.
What to expect from the Salem Counseling Center Blog:
Our goal for this blog is to create a hub for information and discussion on topics like:
Healthy relationships
Clinical Mental Health Awareness
Practical strategies for managing anxiety and stress
Tools for overcoming depression
Overviews of therapeutic approaches like CBT, EMDR, Mindfulness, and others
Supplemental resources that can supercharge therapy and self-care
Setting and meeting goals
Encouragement when things are really tough
Many others...
If you have questions about a particular topic or interest that you'd like to see more information about in our content here, send us a message here. We'd love to hear your input.
Lastly: what other stuff are we working on right now?
So glad you asked. We've got some fun ideas for things we want to incorporate into the Salem Counseling Center web presence. We won't share tons o' details about these yet since things are fairly fresh, but we're hopeful that we'll be able to get some teasers out soon.
In the meantime, you should expect to see an additional "Resources" page on our main site menu in the near future. We're collecting information that will be useful for clients, family members, educators, clergy, other health professionals, and just about anybody else who could be interested!
Thanks for jumping in with us. Stay tuned!