Therapy for Women Online: A Path to Healing
Melinda's Journey to Overcome Trauma
Melinda grew up in a family that was verbally abusive and highly punitive. Her childhood was marked by constant criticism, harsh punishment, and a lack of emotional support. As a result, Melinda developed symptoms of childhood trauma that followed her into adulthood. She struggled with anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. The verbal abuse she endured made her highly sensitive to criticism and rejection, leading to anxiety in social settings and being critical of herself. Melinda’s experiences left her feeling frustrated and hopeless, but she knew deep down that she deserved a better life.
With immense courage, she made a brave first step to seek therapy for herself. Despite the challenges of her past, Melinda found a new way to heal that brought hope and happiness back into her life.
Therapy for Women Online; What Issues Do You Work With?
Many women, like Melinda, seek support through therapy for various mental health issues. At Art Therapy Guelph, we provide an environment where you can receive support and understanding. Our therapist is trained to assist you through life’s challenges with professional expertise. We offer individualized support on various issues, including:
Anxiety: Anxiety can involve persistent worry, excessive fear, and physical symptoms such as a racing heart or difficulty breathing. Many individuals seek support to learn coping strategies and achieve calm in their daily lives.
Depression: Depression typically includes feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities. Therapy can help individuals explore underlying causes, develop healthier thought patterns, and find renewed interest.
Trauma and PTSD: Trauma and PTSD may lead to flashbacks, nightmares, and intense emotional distress. Support is important for processing these experiences, building resilience, and restoring a sense of safety and normalcy.
Narcissistic Abuse: Narcissistic abuse can cause feelings of worthlessness, confusion, and emotional pain. Therapy provides a space to understand these dynamics, recover from manipulation, and rebuild self-esteem.
Grief: Grief is a response to loss that can be overwhelming and isolating. Support can help individuals navigate their emotions, find meaning, and honor their loved ones while moving forward.
Low Self-Esteem: Low self-esteem can impede personal growth and fulfillment. Therapy assists in identifying negative self-beliefs, cultivating self-acceptance, and fostering a more confident self-perception.
Stress: Chronic stress can negatively impact mental and physical health, leading to exhaustion and burnout. Seeking support allows individuals to manage stress effectively, prioritize self-care, and improve overall well-being.
Negative Life Events: Negative life events, such as divorce, job loss, or traumatic incidents, can create significant upheaval. Therapy offers a space to process these changes, adapt, and plan for the future.
Types of Therapy for Women Online
By accessing therapy for women online, women can connect with skilled professionals who understand their unique experiences and support them on their healing journey. Here are some types of therapy for women online offered:
Individual Therapy for Women Online:
- Art Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that combines psychological counseling with creative expression, offering a non-verbal outlet for emotions, experiences and thoughts, accessible to all regardless of artistic skill. It provides a safe space for emotional expression, reduces stress, facilitates self-discovery, improves mental health, boosts self-esteem, and fosters social connections in groups. By engaging in activities like working with clay, creating collage, drawing or painting, individuals can explore deeper layers of their psyche, making visible the invisible struggles within, and gain a sense of accomplishment and confidence through completion of art projects.
- Brainspotting Therapy is a tool that uses a person’s visual field to process information stored in the brain, such as traumas, stuck or stressful thoughts. As people may know, when people retrieve memories or thoughts, they often look up to the left or right. This is a reflex the eyes do to access information, or brain spots. Brainspotting is a type of therapy that involves mindful processing, attunement with the therapist and processing. It can be used for trauma and abuse, anxiety, depression and other things.
- Talk Therapy is a commonly used tool in therapy. This type uses a variety of therapeutic models such as CBT, DBT, trauma counseling, mindfulness, internal family systems, mindfulness and motivational interviewing for example. Clients participating in therapy collaborate with their therapist to find their best fit.
- Trauma Therapy aids individuals with PTSD in processing their trauma. This form of therapy works to expand a client’s window of tolerance, helping them manage emotional responses and stress. Through grounding techniques, clients learn to feel more balanced and centered. The benefits of trauma therapy may be to help people feel more control over their trauma responses and be able to return to their center more quickly. It may support people in recognizing past from present and increase a feeling of safety. It helps client learn strategies to cope with daily challenges and reduce the impact of traumatic memories on their overall well-being.
- Narcissistic Abuse Therapy supports people who have experienced abuse in narcissistic relationships. These relationships are complex and could be with partners, parents, siblings, friends or coworkers. The impacts of these relationships on the victim can be profound, leading to low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and a loss of self-identity. Victims often feel trapped, manipulated, and emotionally drained. Seeking therapy can be a crucial step toward reclaiming one’s life and sense of self. Therapy offers a safe haven where individuals can process their experiences, understand the dynamics of narcissistic abuse, and learn empowering strategies to break free from the cycle of manipulation and regain control over their lives. Through guided therapeutic interventions, victims of narcissistic abuse aim to heal, rebuild their self-esteem, and move forward with resilience and more confidence.
Group Therapy For Women Online:
- Group Art Therapy for Mature Women this is an online group for supportive adult women who want to use art therapy to work on issues like stress, mild anxiety or depression, grief, life transitions or negative life events.
- Self Care Art Therapy Group this is an online group for adult women who want to learn about real self care, healthy boundaries, and how to cultivate a life that reflects ones values and authenticity using creative expression.
- Crone Art Therapy Group this is an online group for women who are post menopausal and beyond who want to learn more about the divine feminine in aging. This group explores one of Jung’s archetypes, the wise mother and crone, using art and tapping in to our own wise woman within.
Conclusion
Seeking therapy is an important step in taking care of your mental health. It helps you understand your thoughts and feelings better and gives you tools to handle life’s challenges. Therapy can be a useful way to work towards feeling better and managing stress. Each session is an opportunity to learn more about yourself and find ways to improve your overall mental well-being.
About
Heather Caruso is a compassionate, skilled, and intuitive therapist offering in person sessions in Guelph and therapy for women online. She is a registered Canadian art therapist, registered psychotherapist, trauma counselor and narcissistic abuse treatment clinician. She offers a unique blend of therapeutic approaches to help her clients navigate their healing journeys. Heather’s deep empathy and expertise create a safe and nurturing environment for those dealing with a mental health issue. Her areas of expertise are anxiety, depression, grief, low self esteem, stress management, trauma, PTSD and navigating big life changes. Heather offers one on one sessions and group sessions for adult women for people from Ontario.
To support individuals in finding the right therapeutic path for their unique needs, she offers a free Zoom chat where people can ask questions and determine if her therapy services are a good fit for their needs. To book an appointment, click the button below.
