Hi! I am Angela Welch, a licensed counselor in Maryland. I have practiced mental health therapy for 10 years and worked in the human services field for 15 years before becoming a counselor. I am certified in EMDR and DBT skills training, but my approach is tailored to each client's needs. I strive to help people with anxiety, depression, and PTSD manage their symptoms and live life to the fullest.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
I believe in being client-led. What that means for our sessions is the client is in charge of how quickly we move in therapy. I never want therapy to be re-traumatizing for a client so I will never ask for something the client does not want to give. I believe each client is an expert on themselves and it's my job to help them find answers. My job is to provide support, encouragement, and techniques to help you on your way to living a better life. You can expect to discuss your history and goals for therapy in our first session, but don't worry if you don't have it all figured out right away! We will keep working at your pace.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I tend to be down to earth and open minded. I do my best to walk beside my clients rather than placing myself above them. I encourage clients to be direct with me- I like when clients let me know how therapy is working for them so we can change direction or approach as needed. I have a lot of experience working with different populations and bring that wisdom into my therapy practice.
About Angela Welch
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VirtualMy treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT is useful in changing thought patterns. Think of your thoughts like roads, which then lead to certain feelings and behaviors. We all have roads (thoughts) which lead us places (feelings and behaviors) we want to stop visiting. Developing new roads is difficult work, but it can be done! CBT is the most evidenced based technique we have for re-wiring the brain. I have personally found it helpful and so have most of my clients.
EMDR
CBT is wonderful, but it is not always helpful for people in recovery from traumatic experiences. When someone has a traumatic experience, it is not stored in the brain the same way as other, less difficult memories. As a result, those traumatic memories can be triggered by the environment causing flashbacks, episodes of emotional dysregulation, nightmares, and avoidance among other symptoms. EMDR does not take away the traumatic memory, but does help to lessen the impact of trauma triggers. EMDR is a somatic processing which has shown to be effective in treating PTSD and other stress-related issues.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I am trained in the use of DBT skills which is a behavior-based way of changing how we feel. DBT can help to teach someone how to regulate their emotions better and have better relationships with others. The four main areas of skills are: mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance.