Forward Counseling & Consultation

When a person is exposed to a traumatic or stressful event, how they experience it greatly influences the long-lasting adverse effects of carrying the weight of the traumatic event(s).  Trauma involves exposure to a deeply distressing experience, such as death, serious injury, or violence. This can occur either through directly experiencing the traumatic event or witnessing it happen to others. Traumatic experiences can have a lasting impact on a person’s physical, emotional, and social well-being.  Several types of trauma disorders can develop as experience because of distressing experience.  Some of the most common trauma disorders include:

• Acute stress disorder
• Adjustment disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD)
• Reactive attachment disorder (RAD)

Forward Counseling and Consultation (FCC) therapists specialize in treatment of trauma and stress related concerns and are trained in specific modalities to work with individuals in their journey of healing from experiences of traumatic events. FCC therapist will work with you on trauma stabilization, building skills and tools around management of symptoms while collaborating on best approaches to treatment and healing.

Individual and family therapy are an important part of substance use counseling and treatment for overall recovery. Forward Counseling and Consultation (FCC) therapists specialize in treatment of substance use and are all trained in treatment of co-occurring concerns; trauma, mental health and substance use and have experience working with medication assisted treatment, OWI assessments and driver safety plans, recovery groups and assisting individuals to transition to levels of care dependent on recovery needs. FCC staff provide outpatient substance use counseling and services for individual counseling, family therapy and recovery groups which allow the individual to cut down and/or stop substance use, build coping skills, increase distress tolerance, improve relationships and family systems, understand the relationship to substance use and change behaviors and/or lifestyle choices in addition to treatment any underlying and unresolved mental health and/or trauma concerns. 

Levels of Care for Substance Use Treatment

1. Inpatient (or outpatient) Detoxification
2. Inpatient Treatment (long-term: 60-90 days) (short-term: 10-30 days)
3. Outpatient Treatment (day treatment, intensive outpatient, general and/or non-intensive outpatient treatment) 
4. Support Groups, peer support, self-help

FCC focused on outpatient treatment in the form of individual therapy, couple and family therapy and therapeutic skills-based, recovery orientated groups.

Many people experience dissociation (dissociate) during their life.  If you dissociate you may feel disconnected from yourself and the world around, you.  When assessing for dissociation we need to look at the spectrum of dissociation, the level of distress and the individuals unique experience.  When dissociation involves problems with memory, identity, emotion, perception, behavior, and sense of self we look at what treatment options best fit the individual.   Dissociative symptoms can potentially disrupt every area of mental functioning.  Examples of dissociative symptoms include the experience of detachment or feeling as if one is outside, one’s body, and loss of memory or amnesia. Dissociative disorders are frequently associated with previous experience of trauma(s).  There are three types of dissociative disorders:

• Dissociative identity disorder
• Dissociative amnesia
• Depersonalization/derealization disorder

Forward Counseling and Consultation (FCC) therapists have extensive experience working with individuals who are experiencing dissociation on a spectrum. We will meet you were you are at to work on providing psychoeducation, skills and stabilization while working towards integration and healing.