Linda Clarkson, Licensed Professional Counselor

Hi and welcome to my profile. Many thanks for your time today. I understand that your decision to seek counseling isn’t necessarily an easy choice. But, life can be challenging at times. Maybe it’s something you’ve been living with for years or life’s stresses are simply catching up with you. Are you feeling stuck, guilty, judged, anxious, stressed, undeserving. Maybe just plain helpless. Or, maybe you’re tired of going round and round the same old issue with your partner.

You’ve tried talking with family and friends hoping that things will change. And, it may have been helpful for a while. Or maybe you decided to go it alone, just do the best you could and try to manage on your own. But, it hasn’t been working. Going it alone can involve considerable amounts of stress and anxiety and lead to even bigger problems.

First, I do want to say kudos to you for taking your first step. You’re an intelligent person with numerous skills and a willingness to change your life for the better. It’s time to work on moving forward and transforming your life into one that’s vital and healthy.

As a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice in Alpharetta, GA I work with adult individuals and couples. My counseling specialties focus on anxiety and stress management, couples relationships, intimacy issues, bereavement, grief and loss, life transitions and internal dialogues.

I believe in active engagement with my clients. Counseling assists perfectly normal people who are facing issues and problems, past or present, that are negatively affecting their thoughts and, consequently, their lives. We’ll work together to overcome the challenges you face, provide the strategies and tools you need to avoid triggers, redirect damaging patterns and provide long-lasting benefits of change.

The past frames our beliefs and value systems and shapes our adult lives and relationships. We are our thoughts and those thoughts create our reality. These repetitious thought patterns develop over time eventually becoming so automatic as to be unrecognizable. After all, it’s just the way we are. Right?
Fortunately, change is possible and interventions are targeted in order to help change specific thought patterns or problematic behaviors.

For those who are grieving and experiencing loss…
Life losses are the hardest experiences we have to face. And, grief is the realization that life can no longer be lived in the way we expected. We may grieve our loved ones, our hopes and dreams for our future, our past history.

While we don’t “get over” our loss, we can go through it. I do understand that none of this is easy and I can’t take away your pain. But I can help you with your struggle as you learn how to navigate your loss and rebuild a firm footing as you create your new role in life. Working with the Tasks of Mourning, I can stand with you on your journey and help support you during this difficult time.

Couples…
Some fairly common issues may develop in a relationship over time. Trying to solve them on your own can be difficult. Even though deep down you still love each other, couples may fall into a pattern of complacency or stagnation, bickering and arguing over the same issue over and over again. The result? A potential buildup of resentment or disconnection. Even life transitions may place a strain on a relatively comfortable relationship.

However, it’s important to know that you aren’t necessarily arguing about what you think you’re arguing about. Okay, I can hear you in the background saying “it’s too hard or we’re too busy or we’ve tried before and it didn’t work”. Maybe you’re even saying “it’s not that bad”.

Research has shown that couples have placed higher demands on their relationships than they did in the past – one reason being the intensity of 21st century life. Increased expectations, together with the digital age, leave individuals with less energy and emotional capacity to meet the needs of their partners.

Working together we’ll learn what you’re really arguing about, how to address it and stop going around in circles. You’ll learn specific ways and strategies about how to show up, be present, feel understood and communicate lovingly and effectively in order to inject more aliveness and vitality into your relationship.

We’ll work together to help repair trust and understand each other’s emotional and physical needs. And, you’ll learn the importance of continuing to do what works in order to make change permanent.

A little about me…
For the past fourteen years I’ve had the privilege and joy of helping individuals and couples feel happier, more confident and better about themselves as people, partners and professionals.

For the first four of those fourteen years I worked as a bereavement counselor for a local hospice before opening my private practice. And, prior to transitioning into the counseling profession, I spent over 20 years providing communication solutions services to the business community.

My style is interactive and primarily based in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), psychoeducation, mindfulness and stress reduction techniques for anxiety, stress management and internal dialogues work. Couples counseling is framed in Imago Therapy and the Gottman Method. You may find that we also discuss attachment, bereavement, grief and loss and neuroscience in our work together. We’ll work with your strengths and core values to bring vitality back into your life and relationship.

I’d be honored to work with you to overcome the specific obstacles holding you back from becoming your best self. I offer a complimentary 15-20 minute phone consultation to answer your questions and discuss your situation and concerns. This also provides you the opportunity to decide if you’ll feel comfortable working with me.

You may reach me at 470-461-7211 or linda@lindaclarksonlpc.com to schedule your complimentary consult. Please leave a message with your availability and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours Monday thru Friday.

With the deepest respect for your journey,
Warmly,
Linda