Absolutely! Research shows that the benefits of therapy are both clinically significant and statistically significant. How effective therapy is depends on how chronic and complex the issues are, how much support the person has, and which treatment is used based on the issues

Therapy has been shown to be effective not only in the short term but also in the long term.  Depending on your diagnosis, the positive changes associated with therapy tend to last longer than medication. What this means is that if you are struggling with anxiety and/or depression, you will learn different coping skills that can be applied even after you end counseling throughout your life!

Therapy has also been shown to improve physical health, work functioning, and life quality.  It has been shown to decrease the need for both physical and psychiatric hospitalizations and decrease the need for many medical interventions.  Therapy has been shown to improve outcomes for people dealing with chronic diseases, such as pain, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases, and pulmonary disorders.

Basically, psychotherapy helps people who are struggling with so many different problems related to relationships, school, work, behaviors, pain, anxiety, panic, depression, trauma, medical conditions, grief… and many others.  The goal is to improve your overall functioning, with relationships, work, family, and general well-being.  Usually counseling talks with you, but therapists can also use other strategies, such as art, play, music, reading, writing, or movement.

Therapy is useful for individuals, families, couples, and groups of people. Therapy works for people of all ages, from infancy through adulthood (for babies and toddlers, parents are an integral part of the counseling process!)

A therapist is a general term that can refer to anyone, even someone without any mental health training or education. 

In Pennsylvania, a psychologist is a licensed professional with a doctoral degree.  This usually involved 5-7 years of graduate school, internships, licensing exams, and supervised clinical hours. 

Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) are professionals with a master’s degree, who have also completed externships, licensing exams, and numerous hours of supervised clinical experience.

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor, who can provide both psychotherapy and prescribe medication.  Therefore, if you need psychiatric medication, it is necessary to work with a psychiatrist or nurse practitioner.

Often, clients call for support when life has become unmanageable, when they are struggling with their kids, partners, or work, or when they recognize that anxiety or depression is getting in the way of living the life they want. Sometimes their doctor has recommended counseling, or a close friend or family member.  Sometimes clients just know that they need help and are curious about what that may even look like.  If you are curious about how therapy can benefit you, please call us for a free phone consultation. 

Typically, you’ll meet with your therapist for the intake session.  Your therapist will ask you questions about your goals for counseling, ways you’d like to improve your life, and gather information about your history.  Based on this information, you and your therapist will collaborate on a plan for treatment, which includes an estimate for the length of time they expect you to need counseling.  The plan also includes different objectives and strategies to achieve the goals you would like to work towards.

Usually, a counseling session will last between 45-60 minutes.

RBMH specializes in the treatment of trauma.  Trauma can take many different forms, but at its core, it is the exposure to a significant event that leaves the survivor with bodily or mental injury or the injury or loss of a loved one.  These types of experiences can come in the form of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, traumatic death of a loved one, serious accidents, medical procedures, illness, or injury, war, interpersonal violence, community violence, or natural disasters.  Our therapists are specially trained to assist our clients in healing these profound wounds and finding a place of healing and recovery.

Start by reviewing the Therapists’ profiles to see if any of the therapists seem right for you.  Your relationship with your therapist is just like any other relationship in your life.  To work well together, you need to feel comfortable and connected to your counselor.  It is okay if you need to try more than one counselor before you feel that way!  RBMH is a small, but growing practice with a diverse group of clinicians.  If you start with one but don’t feel like their style is right for you, you are welcome to try a different therapist.  Our goal is to make sure you are working with the right person.

It really depends on what problems you want to address.  For the most part, if you are dealing with anxiety, mild to moderate depression, trauma, or stress related to family, parenting, work, etc., trying therapy is the best first step.  Your therapist will do an assessment in the first few sessions to see if a medication can benefit you and provide a referral to a prescriber (we do not prescribe medication at our practice).  Often people will find that taking medication along with therapy can be beneficial.

We accept most BCBS and Highmark plans, Geisinger, and United Healthcare.  Please contact us if you have a question about which plans are accepted if it isn’t listed.  We are adding insurance plans all the time. Click Here for more information >>