Mindful Path Counseling
There is always something new to learn along the mindful path that will heal what hurts and enrich your life.
How Does the Mindful Path Lead to a Happier Life?
Learn how self compassion opens the door for healthy living, harmonious relationships, and new possibilities. Discover a gentle way to transform your life.
Journey Clinical Ketamine Assisted Therapy
I am a Journey Clinical KAP Provider
I am excited to announce that I now offer a therapeutic modality called Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP): the use of ketamine as a complement to psychotherapy. I deliver KAP in my practice in partnership with Journey Clinical, which has a specialized medical team that determines eligibility for KAP, prescribes ketamine lozenges, & supports me in monitoring outcomes. If interested, e-mail me at sondra@longbrakeconsulting.com to discuss eligibility & next steps. For more information, go to https://journey64608.ac-page.com/patientresourcecenter
Therapy for Deep Healing
Why We Do What we Do
Adverse Childhood Experiences
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood. You can learn more and take the quiz here. ACEs can include violence, abuse, and growing up in a family with mental health or substance use problems, among other things. Toxic stress from ACEs can change brain development and affect how the body responds to stress. You can learn to rewire your brain and stop the stress response and the long term effects on your health, your family, and your career.
Toxic Relationships
Constant exposure to toxic interactions at home, at work, or with friends or extended family can lead to a number of physical, mental, and emotional difficulties. It can lead to confusion, sleepless nights, and intrusive thoughts as you try to make sense of the toxic person's words, actions, and motives. It can lead to headaches, backaches, digestive issues, and a whole host of physical problems. Therapy can help you emotionally disentangle yourself and heal from the long term effects.
Our Map to Success
You have probably heard that thoughts can have a profound impact on how we feel, and how we feel can impact our decision making. Cognitive behavior therapy focuses a lot on changing your thoughts and actions in order to feel better. While it is true that this approach can be quite helpful, we need an additional piece to complete the puzzle. By working with the body and the brain simultaneously, we can bring you to a much better place mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally.
About the Body: The primal, survival part of our brains can pick up on the most subtle cues in the environment and trigger a fight/flight response. We are suddenly anxious, or maybe even in a panic. The body tells the brain there is an emergency, and the brain obliges by creating a story that matches the level of panic. With a few simple techniques, we can calm the panic response, and like magic, the problem is now easily manageable.
Once some of the most extreme reactions are under control, we can begin to go deeper with a series of gentle guided meditations to get to the heart of the issues. By using symbolism and active imagination, you can transform those old wounds that may be too painful for words. We use a combination of art, journaling, and symbolic imagery to integrate and strengthen deep, lasting change and healing.
How the Mindful Path Came About
Sondra Longbrake has mapped out her own recovery journey with ACEs and toxic relationships. She earned a bachelor’s in social work in 2001 and a master’s degree in counseling in 2011. Through continued research, professional practice, and her own spiritual journey, she developed an approach to personal healing and growth that changed her life. Now you can join Sondra on this powerful journey by following her healing blueprint.
Empower Yourself
We use a top down-bottom up approach to therapy. In other words, we help you transform internal thoughts, beliefs, moods, and feelings. At the same time, we teach some skills to the relieve the anxiety that keeps you stuck while we support you in taking actionable steps toward the changes you want to make. These combined modalities each create momentum for the other.
What to do if you are in immediate crisis
Call, Text, or Chat to 988
988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and is now active across the United States.
When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary.
Proven Methods for Couples Therapy
Healthy relationships are super important to anyone’s overall mental health and wellbeing. Your partner can be a wonderful resource in that regard. Unfortunately, we often experience a great deal of stress within our most important relationships. John and Julie Gottman are leading experts in the science of what makes relationships work and what gets in the way. With the Gottman principles and a program called Gottman Connect, we infuse our trauma informed approach into this proven method. Don’t wait! The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll have the satisfying relationship you’ve been dreaming about!