Anne Marie Ruta Buchanan, LPCC

I am a compassionate psychotherapist eager to support women struggling with grief and anxiety. I enjoy using my experience working in the mental health field as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist to help women find peace and comfort as they encounter the hardship of loss or pain associated with worry, panic and fear.

I enjoy accompanying women walk down the bitter cold path of grief and loss because I know that it is a difficult and highly personal experience not often understood or tolerated by members of our community. In this day of "hurry up and get over it" it is hard to find others who are there to listen and truly acknowledge the depth of mental and physical pain experienced during this highly sensitive time. I have both professional and personal experience in grief and can be a comfort to help understand how the brain and body process the many forms of loss, from death of a loved one (spouse or significant other, parent, child, sibling, friend, co-worker, pet), loss of a job, loss of physical ability, divorce, end of relationship, retirement, and life transitions such as "empty nest." Together we process the loss and acclimate to a future with hope.
Anxiety recovery is another specialty I enjoy because it is rewarding for me to see the lives of clients open up to new possibilities previously unattainable due to stress and fear. When anxiety invades a person's everyday existence, it is like a virus taking over, constricting life choices. Whether it comes in the form of general and pervasive unease and worry, panic attacks, phobias, compulsions, depersonalization and derealization sensations, it's insidious nature rips the joy out of just about everything, leaving you feeling exhausted, hopeless and helpless. I educate you on what is happening in the brain and body so that you can better understand how anxiety functions. We explore different exercises to relax the body and mind and discover alternate ways of thinking so you can calm the fearful response and choose behaviors that correspond to a life you want to lead.
I work with clients using talk therapy, walk and talk therapy, and for those interested, dance/movement therapy, which is a type of psychotherapy that incorporates the use of body movement to express complex experiences and emotions. Since grief and anxiety both live in the body manifesting physical symptoms (headaches, body aches, stomach upset, sleep disturbances. shaking, breathing issues, sweating, increased heart rate, tingling of extremities, vision issues, crying ), it makes sense to use a body based approach to calm the inner storm and gain increased comfort and rest.
I have been in the mental health field for over 25 years and have had the privilege of working with clients from diverse backgrounds with various types of conditions. I am open to incorporating a spiritual approach for those who find comfort and guidance from a higher power.