Jo Ann C Simmons LMHC

The goals for therapy come out of the client’s needs for healing or achieving success. The client has a good reason to reach out for therapy and quite often that reason is causing pain in their lives. Let’s say the client came to therapy because they have panic attacks and they need to apply for a job. We’d look at the most pressing short term goal first to reduce the panic attack enough to get a job. The long term goal would be to heal the cause of the attacks. Since the attacks are frequent and they have interfered with the client’s ability to set up a job interview, the first goal we’d set up is to practice a technique I teach them to reduce panic. We’d practice for a while to see if this is working. Then we decide on the next goal. Therapy is a team effort, the client presents the issue and often I take the lead, other times the client takes the lead and together we come up with goals to heal the issue.

In the area of relationships, I noticed clients experiencing a great deal of frustration because they are single and they want to be in a committed relationship. They are finding that the partners they are dating are afraid of commitment and this pattern is showing up again and again. The insight into this situation is to dig deeper with the client to see if they are unconsciously attracting someone who has difficulty with intimacy because they are afraid of intimacy themselves. If they truly want to clear up this recurring pattern, they will need to address and heal their deepest wound in the area of intimacy. Then they will be open to receiving a loving and committed relationship for themselves.

The ability to understand yourself is within your reach. Your quality of life improves dramatically as you take care of your emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. By working with me, you consistently receive guidance from a lifelong learner who offers you effective tools to dissolve emotional blocks that keep you from living your best life. We explore your body, mind and spirit looking to return to wholeness. Your psychological pain often results in disowning certain facets of yourself. For example, the child in you that loved to dance was cruelly criticized. Today you feel too embarrassed to be seen. By healing feelings of shame, the natural expression of celebration and joy can again be expressed! I am always thrilled to see my clients heal deep wounds and become empowered to live a happy and productive life. Just recently, I worked as a psychotherapist at a residential treatment program for women who have experienced trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and other disorders. Watching these women, who felt ashamed of their bodies, create a breathtaking dance to perform as their final project, caused me to burst into tears of joy. They expressed their whole self without feeling shame. What a victory. In my private practice, healing takes place through empathy, understanding and implementing therapies that enrich the whole person. Some of these therapies include: Gestalt Therapy, Art Therapy, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).

• Florida, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, MH6324

My career is varied and diverse with a strong practical and theoretical background in counseling, education and therapy. I have used these modalities in schools, military bases, residential treatment programs and private offices. I specialize in private practice, educational consulting, and military family life consulting. I provide an experiential approach to therapy. The growth principals I offer to my clients are ones I have applied to myself first before recommending them. The main goal in therapy is to help my clients get beyond old habits and to instill new habits that lead to self-empowerment.