Taking the first step towards improving your mental health is a significant achievement. Beginning therapy can evoke a mix of empowering, confusing, and intimidating feelings.
I am dedicated to creating a safe and welcoming environment where clients can openly explore challenges related to anxiety, depression, trauma, and self-care. I've honed expertise in numerous evidence-based therapies that pave the way to healing. Together, we'll address distressing symptoms using these effective techniques and skills while delving into the underlying causes.
In counseling, there's room for personal growth and development in any direction you seek, helping you construct the fulfilling life you deserve. I'm here to support your journey whenever you're ready to share.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session, we’ll start with brief introductions and then discuss your goals. This will help me create a tailored plan for us to work through in follow-up sessions.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I have worked closely with people struggling with trauma, including active military personnel, Veterans, and first responders.
About Rachel Sprunger
Appointments
Virtual
My treatment methods
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a specialized form of cognitive behavioral therapy known for its effectiveness in reducing PTSD symptoms arising from diverse traumatic events such as child abuse, combat, rape, and natural disasters. CPT guides patients in challenging and altering unhelpful beliefs tied to their trauma. Through this process, individuals develop a new perspective and understanding of the traumatic experience, lessening its ongoing impact on their present life.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic method designed to help individuals recognize and modify negative or unproductive thought and behavior patterns. CBT aims to empower you to identify how your thoughts influence your actions by focusing on the connection between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Through this awareness, you can start to develop new coping strategies and change behaviors that may be hindering your well-being. CBT emphasizes addressing current issues and concerns, placing less emphasis on exploring past events.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy
Exposure is a frequently employed technique in cognitive behavioral therapy to assist individuals in confronting their fears. Specifically, prolonged exposure is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy that guides individuals in gradually approaching memories, emotions, and circumstances related to their trauma.
Many individuals naturally tend to avoid reminders of their traumatic experiences, which unfortunately reinforces their fear over time. However, by directly confronting these avoided stimuli, individuals can actively reduce symptoms of PTSD. Through this process, they learn that trauma-related memories and triggers are not inherently dangerous and do not require avoidance.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a structured approach specifically developed for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related conditions including depression and anxiety. It is guided by the Adaptive Information Processing model and involves brief periods of focusing on traumatic memories while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation, often through eye movements. The primary goal of EMDR is to reduce the intensity and emotional distress associated with these memories.
Unlike traditional therapies that primarily focus on modifying emotional responses directly, EMDR targets the memory itself. It seeks to change how these memories are stored in the brain, aiming to alleviate symptoms by reducing their impact on an individual's current life. This approach is based on the understanding that unresolved traumatic memories can contribute to ongoing psychological distress and symptoms.
