Orlando Counseling Providing Anxiety, Trauma and Relationship Therapy

Hi y'all! I created this list of free and sliding scale fee counseling services in Orlando as a resource for professionals and for the people in our community. This list includes free counseling in Orlando, as well as counseling offices that offer a sliding scale fee. This list is not exhaustive and I encourage you to add to the list by leaving a note in the comments section of this article.

Orlando Counseling Providing Anxiety, Trauma and Relationship Therapy

It can be nerve wracking to call a new counselor to schedule a first appointment. Telling a complete stranger that your life is difficult right now can cause anxiety. Sharing the details around what is not working in your life is a tough thing to do.

Orlando Counseling Providing Anxiety, Trauma and Relationship Therapy

Most people exhaust many of their own resources before actually reaching out to a therapist. They talk to their friends. They read self-help books. They talk to family and friends. They try meditation. They might even start a new workout regimen. It's when these things don't seem to work, that they reach out to a professional for therapy or counseling.

Orlando Counseling Providing Relationship Therapy

Welcome to the 4th part of Breaking up the Healthy Way [From the Experts]. In this final part, we are discussing the healing power of taking some time for self-reflection. If you missed the previous blog posts in this segment, you can find them here:

Orlando Counseling Providing Relationship Therapy

Welcome to Part 3 of Breaking up the Healthy [From the Experts]! In Part 1, we talked about the importance of feeling, rather than avoiding, all the feelings that are part of breakup. In Part 2, we discussed creative and empowering ways to channel your energy when going through a breakup. In this post, we are discussing the importance of understanding that going through a breakup is a grieving process. Whether the ending of your relationship is from a divorce or a breakup, this blog series has healing tips for getting you through it the healthy way!

Orlando Counseling Providing Relationship Therapy

Welcome back to “Breaking up the Healthy Way [From the Experts]” In the last blog post, we talked about the importance of feeling all the feels of a breakup. In this segment, we will be focusing on channeling the energy into fun and creative outlets. Whether the ending of your relationship is from a divorce or a breakup, this blog series has healing tips for getting you through it the healthy way!

Orlando Counseling Providing Relationship Therapy

So what is the best way to get through a breakup? Some might say, “Go have some martinis, ‘swipe right,’ and find a rebound.” Welp, that’s one way to do it. But what if you want to get through the breakup in a HEALTHY way? Whether the ending of your relationship is from a divorce or a breakup, this blog series has healing tips for getting you through it feeling good about yourself!

Orlando Counseling Providing Relationship Therapy

"Why, oh why, do I keep going back? I know this relationship is toxic and I keep going back!” These words or some other closely related sentiment bounce off the walls during relationship counseling at least once a month.

Or when a relationship ends, “My ex is a total jerk! Why do I keep picking jerks?”

In couples counseling, I hear, “It always ends up this way! She walls off and stops talking and I end up exploding and nothing gets resolved. It’s like we can’t even communicate.”

Orlando Counseling Providing Relationship Therapy

Many many years ago, in fact, it feels like another lifetime ago, my “partner picker” was programmed to Narcissist. It seemed like the only men I was attracted to were self-absorbed, self-interested, and self-serving. I continued to find myself in relationships where my role was to, in some way, serve someone else’s selfish interests. I would find myself scratching my head saying, “How the hell did this happen again?” It wasn’t until years later, I realized my beliefs were sabotaging my picker.

Orlando Counseling Providing Anxiety, Trauma and Relationship Therapy

Before I start, let me qualify. I have been impacted by addiction since day one, sober for over nine years, and worked in the field of addictions for the last seven years. I am by no means a 12-step purist. I don’t believe that one size fits all and do I believe there are multiple roads to recovery.

Orlando Counseling Providing Anxiety, Trauma and Relationship Therapy

Have you seen the movie Her? In this movie Theodore is a lonely writer going through a divorce. This poor guy is so lonely that he ends up falling in love with his computer’s operating system. At the beginning of the movie, there is an elevator scene where he’s feeling horrible about his life and himself and says to his phone, “Play melancholy song.”

Orlando Counseling Providing Anxiety Therapy

These days you can respond to your boss’s email, text your partner about the kids, google search a recipe for your dinner, answer your best friend’s phone call, and shop for your mom’s birthday gift all at the same. This makes you a super-efficient human being, right?

Nope, it doesn’t. It makes you a super stressed-out and anxious human doing in a pressure cooker about explode with anxiety.

Orlando Counseling Providing Anxiety, Trauma and Relationship Therapy

Do you ever wonder about the voice that is commentating in your head all day everyday?

As humans, we have core beliefs that colors our world. This belief system was created by interactions with “our people” when we were kids. I go into more depth about this in my previous blog, Rose Colored Glasses, Nope, I Think Not. It’s important to know if we had “good enough” parenting, we probably developed healthy beliefs about ourselves and the world. By “good enough,” I don’t mean perfect, I mean parents that showed us over the years that we are valuable and that they could be trusted.

Orlando Counseling Providing Anxiety, Trauma and Relationship Therapy

Rose Colored Glasses? Nope, That’s Not Me!

Do you hear things like, “Why are you so negative?” or “Why can’t you see the bright side of things?”

First of all, as humans, we all have what is called a negativity bias. This is our innate drive to tune into, and remember the negative experiences over positive ones. We can thank our ancestors, the cavemen, for this. It was much more important for them to remember which berries were deadly and how to avoid being eaten by a ferocious animal than it was to tune into the butterflies and rainbows. I could talk more about negativity bias, but I will save that for another article.