effective counseling for couples who have experienced betrayal
Couple Counseling helps couples who have experienced betrayal, whether it’s emotional, physical, or another form of infidelity. In fact, couples counseling, often referred to as marriage therapy or relationship counseling, is one of the most effective ways for partners to work through the deep pain, trust issues, and emotional challenges that arise after a betrayal. However, it’s important to understand that counseling doesn’t guarantee that the relationship will heal or that the couple will stay together; it provides the tools and framework necessary for healing, rebuilding trust, and making informed decisions about the future of the relationship.
Many individuals experience betrayal trauma which is a condition that affects individuals who have experienced infidelity in their relationship. Similar to PTSD, Betrayal PTSD is characterized by a range of symptoms that can significantly impact an individual's daily life, including their ability to function in their relationships, work, and other important areas of their life. Betrayal PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) can develop after experiencing significant betrayal, especially in intimate relationships. While PTSD is traditionally associated with traumatic events like physical or sexual assault, betrayal trauma (such as infidelity, emotional abuse, or deceit) can trigger similar symptoms. Betrayal PTSD occurs when a person is deeply hurt by someone they trusted, leading to emotional and psychological distress. Post-affair recovery can be complicated for partners who have pre-existing trauma. The symptoms of Betrayal PTSD can vary in severity, but they often include emotional, cognitive, and physical reactions.
Have you heard of EMDR therapy intensives?
Perhaps you're new to therapy or a therapy veteran, have you heard of EMDR therapy intensives? Indeed, many people choose to explore EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy because they may feel that traditional talk therapy has not adequately addressed their needs, especially when dealing with trauma or distressing memories. A lot has been written about EMDR treatment in recent years. You should know that it’s somewhat different from traditional talk therapy, you may be skeptical, and that’s a normal response. Many of us felt the same way before we participated in rigorous and extensive training in EMDR. As part of the training, we were required to be the EMDR client, and we saw the gains immediately. Many EMDR therapists love the way EMDR elegantly treats clients with rapid results. Clients regularly report that their lives feel different, and improved following EMDR. This is why many of us continue to weave it into our sessions.
What if you could make the therapy gains without the long wait? For some, an EMDR intensive offers a way to heal from psychological suffering without years of weekly therapy. We love weekly therapy, and especially the relational healing aspect of months and years with a nurturing and therapeutic partner, but sometimes you have a problem that talk therapy has not been able to resolve. It may be a pattern, a habit, a belief, or something else that may need a different approach. EMDR intensives may be your solution to boosting your current therapy or trying something new and different.
Counseling in Montana to Help You Master Emotion Regulation
As humans, we are not born knowing how to regulate our emotions. In fact, learning to handle our emotions happens in the context of early relationships. Ideally, we learn how to do this as children, and by observing our parents effectively handle their emotions. They teach us how to effectively manage our own emotions. Our parents or caregivers witness, acknowledge and help us make sense of our emotions. Optimal caregivers let us know that our experience is valid, and that our emotions even make sense.
Therapy is very helpful for people who do not easily identify, express or manage emotions. People who have difficulty regulating emotions are often very sensitive to things in the environment that become emotional triggers. They may act and react intensely to those triggers, and quite often, struggle to return to a more regulated baseline. Also, individuals who struggle with emotion regulation have difficulty identifying their emotions, or tolerating these difficult states in a heathy and effective way. This can impact their lives in significant ways especially if being activated or triggered keeps them from finishing important tasks.
In psychology, emotion regulation is often referred to as emotion dysregulation. Ongoing emotion dysregulation may create problems at work, at school, in relationships, and other areas of life. As a way of decreasing or escaping intense negative emotions such as anger, anxiety and sadness, many develop other difficulties, such as a mood or anxiety disorder, anger management, eating disorders, binge disorders, or self-injury. Some individuals experience numbness in response to strong emotions, they shut down, which causes problems as well.
Counseling to heal the root cause of low self-esteem
You are here because you would like to feel more confident about yourself, and proud of who you are. We all struggle with low confidence from time to time. But when you struggle with low self-esteem, it tends to be chronic, and you lack confidence most of the time. Most days, you doubt yourself and think you are not enough or not worthy of having a more satisfying life. Living with low self-esteem and low self-worth can take a toll on your mental health. Your life can feel limited and small much of the time, with unfulfilled goals and dreams. You may have even stopped dreaming and creating achievable goals for yourself because of your self-esteem issues. Feeling bad about yourself can have many causes, but often it is rooted in earlier experiences. At Integrative Psychotherapy Montana, we feel strongly that counseling should get to the root cause of your self-esteem deficits.
You Do Have The Power To Change How You Feel About Yourself, And Working With An Expert Therapist On Increasing Your Self-Esteem Is A Great Place To Start.
Does Any Of This Resonate With You?
You are constantly doubting your abilities or decisions
You have negative thoughts or are constantly criticizing yourself
You struggle to advocate for yourself
You struggle to identify your own strengths
You struggle to identify your own strengths
You feel unworthy of having a better life
You worry what others think of you or assume they are unhappy with you
You are afraid of trying new things because you might not succeed
You tend to tolerate unhealthy situations because you feel undeserving of better
Counseling to heal the root cause of depression
Do you feel worthless, hopeless or apathetic about your life right now? Do you find that you’ve lost interest in the many parts of your life that you once found interesting? Do you isolate now or spend less time with other? Dos life just feel so hard, and your problems insurmountable? Maybe you’d just like to be happier? At Integrative Psychotherapy Montana, we feel strongly that counseling should get to the root cause of your depression. What Follows Are Some Common Signs That You Have Depression:
You don’t enjoy some of the things you used to love
You have insomnia, or you sleep more than usual
Your body aches or you have unexplained body pain
You have difficulty concentrating or experience cognitive difficulties
You have changes in appetite, eating more or less than usual
You have trouble getting out of bed in the morning
You have a difficult time finding the motivation to start or finish tasks
You feel down, rejected or dejected
You are more emotional than usual and find yourself getting angry or crying easily
You have lost interest in activities, hobbies, friends or you avoid spending time with loved ones
You care less about your personal appearance or self care
You feel trapped by some aspects of your life
You experience sexual dysfunction
You think about suicide either actively or passively
Counseling to heal the root cause of anxiety
Do you live in a state of constantly feeling “on edge” and worried that your life will fall apart? Do you find yourself going to the worst case scenario, instead of a more realistic response? Are you afraid to allow yourself to be happy and live in the moment because you think things will most certainly fall apart? Struggling with anxiety can rob you of joy and keep you from enjoying the blessings in your life. When anxiety is a constant in your life, it is called Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Other anxiety-related problems include: panic attacks, separation anxiety, social anxiety and post-traumatic stress that happen in response to specific triggers or experiences. Obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCS, is another type of anxiety, and is marked by persistent invasive thoughts or compulsions to carry out specific behaviors (such as hand-washing). Much of the time, anxiety in any form is accompanied by depression.
Anxiety counseling can help you develop perspective and more helpful coping skills. This will result in the ability to better manage anxiety in the future as you build natural resilience and resources. At Integrative Psychotherapy Montana, we feel strongly that counseling should get to the root cause of your anxiety, and that leads to lasting healing. Identifying your symptoms of anxiety is the start to finding the root cause. If you are suffering from anxiety I look forward to the chance to work with you to create a life you can enjoy.
How To Know If You Would Benefit From Therapy For Anxiety:
You are frequently irritable and agitated
You cannot relax and are constantly needing to busy yourself
You find yourself struggling to focus and concentrate
You struggle with insomnia, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
You don’t feel rested the next day
You are unable to calm your restless, worry mind
You have symptoms of impending doom or panic attacks
Counseling To Heal the root cause of Trauma & PTSD
Are you struggling to cope with something that has overwhelmed your nervous system, or a traumatic event? Are you often overwhelmed with intense emotions? Do you feel “on edge” unable to relax? Do you have you unwanted memories or images about a particular experience? There are traumatic events that are universally traumatic such as a natural disaster, and then there are experiences that are less universal but impactful, such as job loss or divorce. It’s important to understand that people experience events differently. In other words, what traumatizes one person may not be as impactful to another. It’s important to have a professional help you if you are experiencing symptoms of something that has overwhelmed you.
At Integrative Psychotherapy Montana, we feel strongly that counseling should heal the root cause. Identifying symptoms of trauma or PTSD is the start to finding the root cause. If you are suffering from trauma, we look forward to working with you to create a life you can enjoy.
Do These Symptoms Sound Familiar?
You experience shock, denial, disbelief, anger, mood swings, irritability
You lack interest or motivation
You have tears and uncontrollable sadness
You experience fatigue and exhaustion
You experience insomnia and nightmares
Your appetite has changed
You experience racing heart, thoughts, aches, pains, muscle tension
You experience sweating and perspiring
You have nausea and intestinal upset
You have muscle tension or feel shaky
You feel overcome with fear, even though you’re perfectly safe in the here and now.
You have trouble focusing, startle easily, and startle easily
Your memory may be poor
You feel haunted by an experience
You get triggered by something that reminds you of the trauma, even if it is harmless
You are accident prone
You withdraw from others, feel disconnected and numb
You experience flashbacks and can’t stop thinking about past events
Begin your healing journey with Integrative Psychotherapy montana
Find a therapist in Bozeman Montana to support your mental health goals. our expert collective of therapists at integrative psychotherapy montana are here to help you wherever you are in your healing journey. Reach out today to schedule a free consultation and discover how our services can support you in embracing emotional well-being.
Montana Virtual Therapy
We believe that the best therapy is counseling that allows you to easily engage with your licensed mental health professional. Finding a Counselor should easy, but you may live in a location where experienced counselors are difficult to find. Teletherapy is also a good fit if you are busy with work and family obligations and the convenience of sessions from your home or office just makes your life easier. We make virtual appointments simple for our clients who live in Bozeman and throughout the state of Montana using our secure HIPPA-compliant platform SimplePractice. Our therapists are trained to provide high-quality video counseling services and can treat most difficulties using virtual therapy. According to research, remote counseling sessions are just as effective for clients as in-person office visits, however, it might not be the best fit for your individual needs. Send us an email to learn more. We work with clients throughout the state of Montana
Our Montana Counseling Practice Philosophy
As integrative psychotherapists, we consider all aspects of you and your experience, which includes: home, work, social, cultural, emotional, biological, relational, spiritual, and more. This is a mind-body approach to therapy and counseling. Our counseling philosophy addresses not only your symptoms, but the root cause of your difficulties so you can experience long-lasting healing. This means that we help you process thoughts, feelings and emotions and build healthier coping skills in addition to processing experiences that are held in the nervous system. Our highly-experienced counseling professionals offer a range of evidence-based and research-proven practices to help you transform anxiety, depression and emptiness into acceptance, freedom and connectedness. We work with adults of all ages, sexual orientations and cultural backgrounds, specializing in individual therapy, marriage counseling, couple counseling and family counseling.
Other Services offered at Integrative Psychotherapy & Mind-Body Medicine Montana:
In addition to our traditional talk therapy sessions, our highly-trained and experienced psychotherapists offer counseling and therapy throughout the state of Montana. Our mind-body specialists are pleased to offer a range of mental health and wellness services. Our couple therapy services include: counseling and healing after betrayal and infidelity, sex and intimacy therapy, pre-marital counseling, parent and co-parenting counseling, family therapy, therapy with adult children, professional relationship counseling, divorce and separation counseling, intensive couples retreats with Natalie Sea Burger. Our individual therapy for older adolescents and adult services include, anxiety therapy, depression therapy, trauma resolution treatment, and individual relationship counseling to improve personal and professional relationships. Our therapists offer online counseling in Montana to treat a variety of mental health concerns. Our high-quality therapists offer more than just talk therapy. Most of our psychologists and therapists are trained in many modalities that include EMDR Treatment and Somatic Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, Mindfulness, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Focusing-Oriented Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Psychoneuroimmunology, Positive Neureuroplasticity Training, Stress Management & Biofeedback, Attachment-Focused Therapy, Psychospiritual Counseling, Psychedelic Integration and Processing Sessions and more. Please reach out to our Montana therapy office intake coordinator to learn more about the many ways we can help you or your loved ones learn, heal, grow and make significant life-changes.
How To Find The Right Therapist For You In Bozeman Montana
It can feel overwhelming when you decide to work with a therapist. Our modern world makes finding a therapist online somewhat easier, but there are so many qualified therapists to choose from. Many people begin their therapy search using a popular website called Psychology Today because there are many search options, which makes the process somewhat more streamlined, but still challenging. You may want a counselor with certain skills or life-experience, or gender, race or religion may also play a role for you. When searching for a counselor or psychologist in Montana, it’s important to find someone who not only has the skills, experience and training to help you with your concerns, but someone with whom you feel comfortable—therapists call this a “good fit.” Finding the right therapist for you is the most important aspect of effective therapy and healing, as healing tends to happen in the context of supportive and corrective relationships. If you have been referred by a friend, colleague or physician, we will consider this as well. If we do not feel like we are a good fit for you, we will always make a referral with other experienced counselors within the community.
After you reach out, you will be sent electronic versions of our intake paperwork, which includes confidentiality, policy and insurance information to be completed prior to your first session. If you will be conducting sessions virtually or online, you will be sent a link prior to your session time. When working virtually, we use a HIPPA-compliant video conferencing platform called SimplePractice, which we think is easy and convenient to use. Early sessions will be an opportunity to get to know you better and to clarify your counseling goals. Typically sessions are weekly as this gives you the opportunity to develop a relationship with your therapist. Sometimes, if you are experiencing a personal or professional crisis, you may need to meet more frequently. Experience tells us that therapy is most effective when it is weekly and consistent. As treatment goals are met, you will have the opportunity to reevaluate your ongoing counseling needs.