Joan Lanning, Licensed Professional Counselor

Therapy is a partnership, so I like to establish safety and comfortable communication as quickly as possible. Gathering individual and family histories increases comfort while also providing important information for identifying the goals and needs of the client(s). As a collaborative process, therapy includes the important exercise of evaluating progress and making appropriate adjustments to goals. Focus areas of practice include mood conditions, relationship/communication problems, and trauma and stress-related issues.

Many issues of self-esteem and communication are grounded in shame. The environment I seek to create is one that is compassionate, understanding, encouraging, free from shame, and with an expectation of success. One of my highest priorities is that people feel safe to describe events and reactions without fear of judgment and criticism. One end result of therapy is aimed at enabling the client to explore causational factors and eventually reframe the experience into an emotionally manageable life event. Throughout this process, learning to be comfortable with accountability is vital to the client's outcome.