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.
Individual and Group Therapy
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. 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 their 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, 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.
Our Map to Success
Research shows that thoughts can have a profound impact on how we feel, and the way we feel can also affect the direction our thoughts go. By working to improve both simultaneously, we can bring you to a better place mentally and emotionally. When you think more positively and feel more hopeful and joyful, more effective actions naturally follow. When better things happen, better thoughts and feelings follow, and we create an upward spiral in your life.
In addition to talk therapy, we will lead you on a series of gentle guided meditations through your own heart and mind, to transform issues that may be too painful for words. I use a combination of art, journaling, and symbolic imagery to access those deep places thatneed healing.
I take a holistic approach to healing, recognizing that each part of our lives is connected to all the others. I consider past and present relationships, physical health, spirituality, and community connections when collaborating with you to bring balance to your inner life experience.
Our groups utilize material from experts like Bessell Van der Kolk's "The Body Keeps the Score" and Belleruth Naparstek's "Invisible Heroes". Members will learn to to be supported by others in the group as well as how to safely offer support to others.
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.
It’s Time to Get Happy
We use a top down-bottom up approach to therapy. In other words, we help you identify thought and beliefs that lead to troublesome moods, feelings, and actions. At the same time, We teach some skills to physically relieve the feelings of anxiety. Together, these two modalities each create momentum for the other.