Chronic Illness Counseling and Secure Online Therapy available for Texas residents
Chronic illness and pain doesn’t effect one’s well-being in isolation, but tends to have ripple effects through our sense of identity, relationships, and experience of the world around us. Chronic illness and pain bring with it, their very own special blend of grief.
It carries with it not only the grief of who we thought we were but of who we hoped to be. Uncertainty can seem to take over and planning for the future can feel paralyzing. And managing symptoms day to day can feel frustrating and never-ending.
From Lyme Disease to Autoimmune Diseases to Cancer and more…a health diagnosis can rock our world, and not in a good way. It may be hard for others to understand our experience, especially if our illness or pain is invisible. This can lead to a feeling of loneliness and isolation, and symptoms of depression and anxiety are common.
Coping with the various layers of grief and stress associated with illness can be incredibly difficult. And it’s not just those with the diagnosis that feel it. Caregivers, significant others, family members, and friends can all experience these feelings as well.
Chronic illness is an uninvited guest into your life, and it might not be going anywhere soon…or ever. But that doesn’t mean it has to control everything.
Together we can create a plan to help you navigate the challenges of illness, and even to help catalyze your physical healing through emotional healing.
We are experienced in working with many forms of chronic illness and specialize in supporting individuals, couples, and families to heal their relationships with stress, illness, pain, and trauma. We work from an integrative “head + heart” approach that incorporates mind, body, and spirit to help you increase resilience, release emotional baggage, and ignite holistic healing.
Recent research from Yale University has shown that there is a strong correlation between childhood trauma and chronic illness. We know now that the adversity we experience in childhood can cause our nervous system to get “stuck” in the fight-flight-freeze response. This can lead to chronic inflammation, which is tied to almost every chronic disease. And the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE) found that the more adversity in childhood = the higher the chance of chronic illness and disease in adulthood.
But there is light in the darkness – for we know that psychotherapy and counseling can help to heal these traumatic experiences. By healing our trauma, we allow all the energy that is stuck in fight-flight-freeze to be released and redirected towards healing and wellbeing.
If you or a loved one is struggling with navigating life with illness, please reach out for support. We offer secure online counseling and therapy for individuals, couples, and adult families in Texas. Together we can create an integrative plan to help you heal from the past so you can fully support your healing in the present.