Mental Health Counseling

Commonly known as mental health counseling or psychotherapy, Mental Health Counseling a service provided by a professionally trained practitioner who helps people resolve symptoms of stress, conflict, relationship problems or mental health disorders. Counselors providing services need to be licensed by the NH State Board of Mental Health.

Here at Full Spectrum Wellness, we have a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) providing Mental Wellness Counseling. Sessions are by appointment only.  If you've never been to a counselor before, here are some things you can expect. When you call for an appointment, the counselor will ask you some questions about your general mental health, life situation, and what the issue(s) is for which you are seeking counseling. These questions help the counselor determine if your issues and concerns fit her areas of expertise. If the fit is not compatible, she will provide you referrals to other mental health professional/s with the appropriate expertise and experience.  Next, the counselor and you will discuss payment options. Our counselor is on many insurance networks, and also accepts MasterCard and Visa.

Once you've scheduled your first session, you will be advised to try to come about 10 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment in order to start filling out informational paperwork. Your first session is 60 minutes long, and consists of the counselor asking you questions and completing a symptom checklist with you. You can relax and simply answer the questions. This first session is structured in order to get the most information possible and determine if the counselor and client feel the relationship is a good "fit". It is important to feel at ease and comfortable with a counselor. If you do not, you will not hurt the counselor's feelings by saying so. As mentioned above, if you and the counselor decide not to work together, other referrals will be made. If both parties mutually feel that it is a good fit, subsequent sessions will be booked and are 50 minutes in length.

During the second session, the counselor usually takes a brief childhood history and clients discuss their goals for treatment. After these two initial sessions, the therapy is less structured and more driven by the client’s needs. The frequency of sessions is decided jointly between you and your counselor. Sometimes "homework" is given to do outside of sessions, such as writing or reading or practicing a skill. To optimize your healing, your counselor may recommend other treatments, for example, therapeutic massage or a medication evaluation to use in conjunction with your counseling.

To learn more about Mental Health Counselor, Heidi Page or Steven Durost.