Andrea C. Strempke, M.S., CRC, NCC,

Licensed Professional Counselor - Associate

Supervised by Amanda Esquivel, LPC-S and Hilary Labac, LPC-S

Find Your Path to Hope, Balance, & Freedom

Why do people choose to go to counseling?

People choose counseling for a variety of reasons. Sometimes life or recent changes can seem so overwhelming that it can feel difficult to manage. Counseling can help with coping through difficult moments and situations in our lives and better prepare us for future difficulties. Sometimes we don’t really even know “what is wrong with me?” and could use an expert, unbiased perspective that is 100% focused on you with no other agenda than to validate your experiences and to treat you with unconditional positive regard.

Counseling can help integrate balance and awareness and help you create strategies and solutions to life’s complications. Counseling is unique because the focus is solely on you. You don’t have to be diagnosed with a mental illness to attend counseling and you are not “crazy” for feeling like something is going on with you that you can’t seem to get insight on the issue by yourself. Counseling is simply for those who want to improve their life but might not be sure where to start. Perhaps you have lingering questions from your childhood that are impacting your current life circumstances, or you want to just become more aware about yourself and your life choices.

Many people believe that you must have a mental illness or perhaps are considered “broken” in order to go to counseling. This just isn’t true. The fact is that at some point in their lives, everyone will experience heightened anxiety, increased irritability, anger that feels like you are losing control, depression, trouble sleeping, become concerned about a loved one, or become concerned about their own mental health affecting their day-to-day life. You may have worries about starting a new job or wondering about what to do in a relationship. Or you have experienced trauma, divorce, death of a loved one, or any kind of deep loss and find yourself struggling with whom to talk to because it seems like people are avoiding you because of their perceptions of what you should or should not be feeling right now. Maybe you start to experience new and worrisome thoughts and feelings and feel concerned about how you can have emotionally-safe conversations with loved ones.

The truth is, counseling is beneficial for EVERYONE! It doesn't have to take years to start experiencing the benefits of counseling. There is nothing wrong with someone who is asking for help. In fact, I believe it takes courage to ask for help! I do not believe that I am the expert of your life and I am not here to tell you “what to do,” nor will I ever bring my own personal thoughts/experiences into YOUR counseling session. I am here to listen to YOU, respond to YOU, and together create strategies to help you develop insight into your own circumstances. This time is 100% about YOU!

Many of my clients’ primary concerns when seeking therapy:

“Reliving trauma memories or avoiding reminders of them. Noticing that trauma is impacting my relationships.”

“Feeling like I can’t figure out how to find the motivations that I need and/or once had. Not coping as well with stress.”

“Struggling with anxiety, worries, feeling panicky, overwhelmed, and doubting myself with constantly overthinking.”

“Having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep. Having recurring or strange dreams or nightmares.”

“Feeling mistreated or misunderstood in my relationships. Feeling isolated and disappointed by my loved ones.”

“Going through a big life transition. Divorce. Experiencing loss. Navigating a disability. My memory isn’t what it used to be.”

“Losing sight of my inner wisdom and feeling disconnected from my intuition.”