Individual therapy is meeting one on one with your therapist. It is appropriate when deep, besetting issues need to be discussed without another present. This type of therapy is often the most intense, focusing on subtle patterns, hopes, and disappointments in a person's life. Individual therapy may be appropriate even when also doing couples counseling as a means of identifying issues, which cannot easily be spoken of in the presence of one's spouse.

Couple's therapy is often chosen if the focus of the issues is centered between two people, usually husband and wife or a couple who are engaged to be married. It tends to focus on the dynamic between the couple as a means of understanding recurring problems and struggles.

It is no stretch to say that adolescence is full of treacherous questions and circumstances. Young men and women who find themselves navigating this difficult time can often benefit from a safe place in which to be honest about their lives. Depending upon the age of the adolescent, we generally prefer to speak to the parents initially to discern the climate of the home and to better access the concerns of the parents.

Sometimes life brings difficult realities into a child's world that are completely out of their control. When we enter a child’s world we are faced with a daunting reality. How do we connect? How do we relate? What should characterize our relationship? Working with children sometimes requires an approach to counseling which enables the child to use his natural language, play. We provide a safe relationship for the child to express feelings, thoughts, and experiences through play in a playroom that is set up with special toys, games, art supplies and music. Many times difficult things happen in life and even the adults involved have difficulty understanding or explaining the events or their feelings about the events. It is easy to see why children, who lack the verbal skills of an adult, find it even more difficult. Play therapy allows children the opportunity to work through, heal, and move past the difficult realities in their lives.

Research strongly supports the effectiveness of play therapy on most social, emotional, behavioral and educational problems. Some of these problems include depression, anger, ADHD, anxiety/fears, conduct disorders, abuse issues, aggression, post-traumatic stress disorders, handling trauma, grief, and divorce.

Group therapy offers a powerful, underutilized, and unique way to process the way one interacts with others leading to a deeper understanding of one's heart, paving the way for greater freedom of love toward others. Often groups are centered around a specific topic as in some of our small group seminars.

While the majority of counseling happens weekly over a period of time, geographical distance or other circumstances may make it difficult to accommodate this type of schedule. Counseling intensives offer a means to accomplish what may be undoable otherwise, especially for those who are traveling from out of town, or for those simply wanting to cover as much ground as possible in a short time. For such clients, we offer a modified schedule whereby we meet for extended blocks of time over a one to three day period. This can be especially helpful in altering patterns and restructuring assumptions and hopes for difficulties.

Usually as a follow-up to Intensives, phone counseling is a means by which clients can continue work begun face to face. It is usually important to have begun some local counseling before phone counseling can be effective.

Mike is a Licensed Supervisor of Counselors for those seeking licensure with the state of Texas. LPC Interns can receive supervision for their counseling hours to be applied to licensure.

MIke and Jeanenne McCloskey are available for retreats, conferences, small gatherings, etc. on a variety of subjects including Sexual Abuse, Biblical Sexuality, Parenting, Marriage, and Suffering. For more information on booking please use the contact page.