experiences behind you so that your days are brighter.
By Bonnie Mason
Do you often feel an overwhelming sadness or despair, or have a hard time focusing your thoughts? Are you anxious in crowds, or have a specific fear, such as being afraid of heights? Perhaps you have a compulsive habit or behavior like washing your hands too often or overeating? You are not alone — each of these examples may be considered as a mental disorder, or a form of mental illness.
Tens of millions of people in the U.S. suffer from a mental disorder each year. And, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, only a fraction of those who have a mental disorder receive any type of treatment. Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Kristina Martin, the owner of Brighter Days Counseling in Wesley Chapel, hopes to increase that number by helping local residents maintain and achieve good mental health.
Martin says the term “mental illness” often has a negative connotation and is looked down upon by many. Martin explains that the general definition of mental illness is when a person’s thinking, feeling or mood is disrupted, causing an inability to function on a daily basis or results in a negative behavior. Mental illness isn’t biased; it can affect anyone, no matter what age, race, ethnicity, income, religion and comes in many forms and varying degrees. Some are minor concerns and can be managed and/or cured in a short period of time. Others are debilitating and can require extensive therapy over a long period of time. A mental illness also can affect the way a person relates to others.
“This is why it’s important to get yourself to a good mental health state and address what is causing the disruption in your thoughts, mood or behavior,” says Martin.
Martin received her Bachelor of Arts and her Master’s degrees at Florida State University in Tallahassee, and obtained her CSW license in 1997. She worked in a community mental health center for two years, where she counseled patients from 2-70 years old. Then, she moved to Brooksville, where she was the head of clinical services for an adolescent program at Eckerd Youth Services. Martin also worked in the health insurance industry, conducting assessments for patients in facilities and providing approvals for treatment.
Focused Therapies
Martin says that the good news is that recovery from most types of mental illness is possible. She explains that many of those illnesses are treatable with counseling therapy. Although there are numerous methods to treat patients, Martin says she uses three main therapies to help her clients through their illness: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR.)
CBT is evidence-based, time- limited therapy centered on our beliefs and thoughts. It is a form of treatment that examines the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Martin explains that by exploring patterns of thinking that lead to self-destructive actions and behavior or disruptive beliefs, patients can learn to cope by learning how to modify their patterns of thinking. Martin says she uses CBT to actively work with her clients to help them recover from or manage mental disorders.
For example, one of Martin’s clients, a mother with two teenaged daughters, noticed that her relationship with her daughters was becoming increasingly strained. Concerned, the mother sought help through Martin, who was able to get to identify the event that caused the client’s smothering behavior. From there, they worked together to process the event and identify that it was the client’s behavior, not that of the daughters, that was causing the issues. This enabled the client to go back to being the mom she had been before the event. The smothering ceased and the relationship was repaired, all within 8-10 sessions of counseling.
Martin says it’s through CBT that the therapist identifies and focuses on the problem and sets goals to address the client’s symptoms.
“This is where homework comes into play,” says Martin (Note-homework assignments can be keeping a log or record of automatic thoughts during distressing emotions, journaling, and other methods to explore or test your though patterns).
She adds that, “People who are honest about their thoughts and feelings, who set goals, and complete their homework assignments have a greater chance at recovery from a disorder. It’s not just busy work — the homework helps change the client’s way of thinking about how they feel in certain situations, thereby helping to change that thinking that causes unwanted behavior.”
Martin also uses CBT to help with other behavioral issues, such as weight loss and weight management. Obesity is a nationwide epidemic. More and more people wish to lose weight and many others struggle to maintain their weight.
“Cognitive behavioral therapy is a perfect match to weight loss,” says Martin. “I work with clients to explore their beliefs about food and help them to learn ways to change that related behavior.”
Martin says a myriad of motivational interviewing techniques to analyze and dissect client feedback are used in Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET). MET often is used to treat substance abuse. The focus is on re-patterning client behavior that is the result of ambiguous and undefined thoughts, MET complements cognitive therapy. And, like Martin’s number one rule when counseling her clients, MET is very nonjudgmental.
Another therapy Martin uses with her clients is Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), which allows people to heal from emotional stress and ultimately resolve a trauma. Trauma can be almost any event, such as a child having been neglected by his parents, a divorce, death, or a catastrophic life-threatening event such as 9/11 or returning from war. Martin says EMDR therapy will help the client move their “stuck” experiences into the non-adaptive memory part of the brain, which is where Martin says they should reside.
“Many believe that other things control our emotions, but in actuality, it’s our thinking that ‘I have control, I get to say how I feel,’” she says. “I want to learn my clients’ goals — I want to listen, teach and encourage them so that they are able to have the control they need to change their own thinking. She says that, depending upon the issue and the client’s preference, sessions can occur 1-2 times each week and are generally 50 minutes long.
Martin was born in Pennsylvania, but spent most of her childhood in Tallahassee, Florida. She has been married to Bill Martin for six years and the two reside in the New Tampa area.
If you’re ready for brighter days, call and make an appointment with Kristina Martin, LCSW, at 501-4999. Brighter Days Counseling is located at 3848 Flatiron Loop, Suite 102, Wesley Chapel, and offers flexible hours Monday-Friday. To learn more, visit Brighter-DaysCounseling.com.
No comment yet, add your voice below!