
Q&A
Counselor/Therapist
What are some of the therapies that are showing great success in your practice?
One highly successful therapy is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which is a unique way of processing trauma, helping the brain “connect the dots” and work through issues in a way normal talk therapy can’t. Research shows EMDR to be highly effective in working with PTSD and single-incident trauma such as a natural disaster or a violent assault. But it’s also helpful with complex situations such as long-term abuse, domestic violence, and for first responders. The belief is that EMDR is helping put the brain in the right circumstances to heal itself by allowing the patient to reprocess the memories of what has happened to them. This allows automatic responses in the brain and body to be “rewired” at a deeper level and reduces automatic trauma responses.
What other new approaches are showing promising results?
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a powerful approach for working through hard things in ways traditional talk therapy hasn’t. It’s essentially “parts work,” where the therapist engages various parts of a person rather than addressing them as the whole. For instance, there may be a part of you that wants to go running and another part of you that wants to rest on the couch. IFS recognizes that each of these “parts” developed to help achieve different, yet equally valuable things you need. There are no ill-intended parts of yourself, just parts with conflicting goals and responsibilities. IFS recognizes, acknowledges, and thanks each part’s efforts. Then, your core self can come alongside those parts and help you integrate better and alleviate the heavy responsibility some parts may be carrying. It’s an accepting and gentle way of getting to the deep places in ourselves that are just trying to protect us or stop our pain. IFS helps all the parts work together in a calm, compassionate way, removing the stigma, and realizing why these responses are happening.
How does chronic pain affect mental health?
Our therapist, Michelle Salzman, LPC-S, understands chronic pain and illness can lead to depression or anxiety, especially when there’s no end in sight. Clients come to her feeling hopeless and she works with them to discover how to integrate their pain into their lives, not just live their life around it. EMDR and pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) can help turn the volume down on the pain. Sometimes when the pain is so intense or from more than one part of our body, the brain tells us we’re in pain even when we’re not. PRT works to overcome false pain signals.
What does success look like?
We’re seeing quite a bit of success. One lady who’d suffered with migraines for years was pain-free by the end of her session. For other clients, it will take longer. Consistency is important to change your brain. Younger clients don’t have the history of pain older clients do. So, the number of counseling sessions will depend on the client.
About The Expert

Shelley Guess, PhD Candidate
Hope Connects Counseling
Shelley Guess is a Licensed Professional Counselor and founder of Hope Connects Counseling. She holds a Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy and another in Education. She’s currently a PhD-Candidate in Psychology and Counseling, teaches graduate-level courses in Counseling, and leads a dynamic team of therapists.