Specialty Therapy Services in Saint Paul

In addition to traditional “talk” therapy, I provide a number of specialty services to help you address concerns, including mood disorders, eating issues, and relationship breakdown. Keep reading to learn more about some of the specialty services I provide at Venture Therapy of Saint Paul. You can also call our team to find out more or schedule a session.

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of therapy to help clients learn from negative past experiences and desensitize current distressing triggers to empower them to live more healthy and productive lives. Through EMDR, clients are able to reprocess previous negative events and turn those events into adaptive learning experiences. It is often a more effective approach than traditional talk therapy for people with deep rooted negative beliefs, and an effective form of therapy for people with a variety of concerns, including trauma, depression, phobias, and body image difficulties. I use EMDR to help clients address, overcome, and move beyond negative thought cycles.

Body Image & Eating Issues

We live in a culture that idolizes the “thin ideal.” We are bombarded relentlessly with images, messages, and misinformation that to be healthy, beautiful, and desirable is to be thin. The pursuit of weight loss through dieting, extreme forms of exercise, bogus supplements, and “lifestyle changes” (AKA dieting in disguise) is the answer so many of us naturally turn to in attempts to force our bodies to meet this cultural standard of the thin ideal. Unfortunately, this sets you up for pain, obsession about food, rebound weight gain and/or weight cycling, a distorted body image, and fractured relationship with your body. It ruptures the relationship with your body that should come so easily, and should allow you to eat when you’re hungry, eat what you’re hungry for, and nourish yourself with food, movement, and spirituality.

Intuitive Eating Counseling

We were all born intuitive eaters - knowing when we’re hungry and when we’re full, and what nourishes and pleases us. Watch any toddler and you’ll see the pleasure they take in food away from external shaming messages about their food choices. As a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, I can help you get back in tune with your body’s innate wisdom, and guide you in rediscovering the pleasure, satisfaction, and nourishing qualities to food apart from the myriad of people and programs out there who want to tell you how to eat. Your body knows what and how to eat - you only have to tune in.

Relationship Therapy/EFT

I love working with people to develop and maintain meaningful relationships of all kinds, and I have advanced training in a specialized form of treatment – Emotional Focused Couples Therapy (EFT). This form of therapy is based around the simple idea that we are wired for connection, and that damage to our relationships leads to distress. By acknowledging the need for these relationships and reestablishing healthy connection, EFT increases health and happiness in romantic, friendly, familial, and professional relationships.

Perinatal Mental Health

For many, the challenges encountered following the birth of a child can lead to feelings of depression, inadequacy and isolation. It is important to know that you are not alone. Perinatal mental health therapy can focus on a number of factors to help new mothers and fathers become great parents and raise healthy children. I have training in a variety of perinatal mental health treatment areas and styles, including Maternal Mental Health through Postpartum Support International (PSI) and 2020 Mom, and I am also a trained Postpartum Doula.

HAES® Advocate

HAES® stands for Health At Every Size. It’s more than a specialty service – it’s a treatment philosophy that I apply to every aspect of my practice and my life. As a HAES® advocate, I incorporate the three basic components of this principle – respect, critical awareness, and compassionate self-care. If you want to learn more about celebrating size diversity, breaking free from the diet mentality, and leading healthier lives at every size, I can’t wait to talk to you about HAES®.