Brooke Aker, LMHC

I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor working with adults and adolescents to help them manage Anxiety, Depression, Adjustment Disorders, Phase of Life Changes, Grief and Loss, Stress Management, and Trauma.

My name is Brooke Aker! I've been a licensed mental health counselor for 17 years, starting my career in a group private practice. I worked 10 years for a not-for-profit in a variety of roles including Residential services and served as the agency's Clinical Director.
I opened LifeWorks Counseling & Wellness, LLC in October 2022. I work with adults and older teens who deal with Anxiety, Depression, Adjustment Disorders, Phase of Life Changes, Parenting Support, Grief/Loss, and Trauma.
I work from a Person-Centered framework, am trained in EMDR and incorporate CBT strategies in therapy.

I also work with First Responders, including Police Officers, Firefighters, EMS, and nurses, often incorporating EMDR to treat trauma and job-related stressors.

I am a member of the Crossroads Critical Incident Stress Management team serving First Responders in Jay, Blackford, and surrounding communities. I am also a member of the CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Committee of Jay/Blackford Counties.

LifeWorks Counseling & Wellness, LLC is a private-pay practice, which means we do not bill your insurance. Although this is not a great fit for everyone, it does allow you total independence and control in your therapy journey!

One thing I've learned over my 17 years in practice is that there has always been limits in helping clients, whether it be the number of sessions allowed by an insurance company, or the location where services can take place, or even limits put in place by therapy offices and contract payers.
I don't have all the answers, but I do believe that therapists and clients have the right to determine what they need in therapy to truly help them make progress and overcome the issues and symptoms that bring them to therapy! When I thought about opening my own practice, that was my number one goal... Serve clients based on their needs! At LifeWorks Counseling & Wellness, LLC, clients can schedule for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, or any other time that meets their needs. LifeWorks Counseling offers a calming, grounding environment to help clients feel safe in order to dive in to their therapeutic needs. As a bonus, if meeting in the office one day is not what a client needs, we can meet at a local park, take a walk around the pond, or there may be an option to meet at the client's home (*at therapist's discretion based on client need).
I provide therapy from a client-centered, strengths-based approach and incorporate interventions from Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Counseling services at LifeWorks Counseling & Wellness, LLC, are all self-pay at the time of service.

At this time, LifeWorks Counseling is offering sessions Monday-Wednesday 8 am - 5 pm. If you need an appointment time outside of this window, I might be able to accommodate, but it is not a guarantee. Most new intakes can be scheduled within a week, and sometimes the same week.

*Couples Counseling and Family Counseling is offered at LifeWorks Counseling & Wellness LLC by our Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Cassandra Reidt, LMFT, on Saturday's! Please contact our office at 260-726-5017 to schedule with Cassandra! Or email Cassandra directly at creidtlifeworks@gmail.com

If you are interested in starting counseling and believe LifeWorks Counseling & Wellness LLC is a good fit for you, I would love to work with you! Working through issues is often not accomplished in one or two sessions, as I'm sure they did not arise in just one or two days. Therapy can be hard work, but I'm willing to walk beside you as you navigate this path to a better you! Let your Journey begin!

*More about EMDR:
As defined on EMDRIA.org, "EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and PTSD symptoms.
Ongoing research supports positive clinical outcomes showing EMDR therapy as a helpful treatment for disorders such as anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, addictions, and other distressing life experiences."
Watch this clip to learn more about EMDR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKrfH43srg8