Is Therapy Right For You?
Life isn’t always easy. There will come a time in all of our lives when we feel sad, alone, helpless, unfulfilled, or paralyzed by pain, fear, or grief. Therapy provides a time and place for processing our experience, exploring our feelings, and most importantly – confronting ourselves. Here at the office of Dr. Kelly Mothner, Ph.D, I understand the importance of being able to process your experiences and feelings without judgement. This is exactly what I provide for all of my clients – a safe space to explore those hard to confront issues and emotions with the goal of working towards a more solid, fulfilled, and balanced self.
The Benefits Of Adult Therapy
The benefits of therapy are widespread, helping you grow and flourish personally, professionally, and relationally. Below are just a few areas in which adult therapy can help you reach your full potential:
- To accept and respect yourself
- To strengthen your marriage
- To improve your parenting habits
- To thrive in your job
- To understand your true value and purpose
- To enhance and build self-esteem
Are You A Candidate For Adult Therapy In The South Bay?
Each person’s reason for coming into therapy is different. I work with adult therapy clients who are dealing with a variety of issues, including but not limited to:
- Significant Life Transition: When we go through any life-changing experience or transition, from children leaving the nest, to a career change, to a birth or loss, these powerful changes can trigger an array of emotions and reactions. Therapy can provide a space to explore and process these thoughts and feelings.
- Loss and Grief: Grieving is commonly associated with feelings of guilt, anger, sadness, and regret. This can be an extremely distressing time and that is where therapy can play a key role in helping you work through the stages of grief.
- Mid-Life Crisis: During mid-life, sometimes people begin to consider issues such as loss of youth, life purpose, mortality, or physical inadequacy. Irrational thoughts or behaviors are common, and therapy can help provide you the opportunity to transition into the next phase of life with greater self-awareness and compassion.
- Relationship Issues: Relationships require work and persistence, and are not always easy. When relationship problems begin to interfere with daily functioning and overall well-being, it’s time to seek the additional support of therapy. Counseling can help you bring a more solid self to your relationship through improved communication skills and enhanced self-regulation.
- Divorce: Divorce is a big decision. It can be a very complicated life change to navigate, especially if you have children to take into consideration. Individual therapy is helpful for those who are dealing with divorce. It provides a space to sort through the complicated layers of emotion that arise and help you gain more clarity about your decision and how you want to move forward in the most positive way possible.
- Parenting: Parenting can be a highly rewarding, but also very challenging and taxing process. Therapy can help parents regain a sense of confidence in their parenting approach by providing helpful parenting strategies, stress management techniques, and an opportunity to work through other emotional issues that may be impacting the parenting dynamic.
- Depression: Depression can leave people feeling sluggish, unmotivated, hopeless, or extremely sad. Sometimes, people can even feel like the pain is too much to carry on in this life. Therapy provides a safe space to begin exploring the underlying issues contributing to your depression while providing coping strategies to more effectively manage and reduce the intensity of depressive thoughts and other debilitating symptoms.
- Anxiety & Stress: Anxiety can arise in the form of self-doubt, apprehension, or worry that may or may not be connected to real-life stressors. It can interfere with work, relationships, and day-to-day life. Therapy can aid in exploring the sources of anxiety, confronting the maladaptive thoughts associated with the anxiety, and providing techniques for self-soothing and enhanced self-regulation.
- Trauma & PTSD: Trauma and PTSD are both distressing and very delicate, and need to be handled with complete and utter care. Therapy helps those who experience trauma or PTSD make sense of their feelings and experiences, learn healthy ways to cope, and develop a plan to stay safe.
The Importance Of A Good Match Between Therapist & Client
The client therapist relationship provides the foundation for effective therapeutic work to occur. Therefore, my first priority when clients come to see me is to help them determine whether I am a good fit for them and their particular needs. My next step is to create a safe and comfortable environment where my clients can begin exploring those issues that have brought them into therapy.
Going beyond simply addressing the immediate symptoms, I help clients explore the underlying issues that are contributing to their current life struggles, emotional distress, or interpersonal problems. Together we look at relationship patterns and ways of thinking that have become a barrier to their happiness and well-being.
Ultimately, I help my clients develop a level of self-awareness and insight that enables them to be the person — partner, parent, boss, colleague, or friend — they want to be.
Contact Dr. Kelly Mothner Today!
I provide adult therapy to clients in the South Bay region, including Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and El Segundo, CA. If you have any other questions, or if you are ready to schedule your initial appointment, please call me at (310) 892-2572 or reach out to me on my contact page.