Steve Hammil Counseling

I view psychotherapy as a process of working through cognitive, behavioral and emotional problems that compromise important aspects of our lives. The process of change is unique to your particular situation. The ways in which your history has helped to shape who you are as a person will help to determine the ways in which you will engage in the counseling process. Each of us engages this process in our own, unique, way.

My counseling practice rests on specific assumptions about change. Among the most prominent assumptions are the following:

The capacity to change is available to all and resides in our genetic abilities to learn and adapt to changing situations throughout our lives. The ability of the brain to change is well documented.

Any emotions, attitudes and behaviors that are causing a person distress very likely result from faulty learning, misinformation or lack of complete information about a situation, or are the product of emotionally distressing experiences which have left an adverse mark on an individual’s thinking, emotional processes, motivations, etc.. If the learning and/or misinformation is not corrected, the lack of information completed and/or the adverse marks not addressed, then they may result in the development of maladaptive and repetitious ways of living that cause depression, anxiety, phobias and problems relating to others.

Change involves helping you to undo the harmful results of faulty learning, emotional hurts, and misinformation that have generated repetitious ways of living that no longer serve you. This will likely involve various approaches tailored to your unique life history, personality and current situations. Thinking, feeling and behavior are a unity and all need to be addressed for lasting change to occur. However, successful therapy rests on choosing the modality most suited to you, the client. This means that if you are a "thinker", then I work primarily with thoughts. If you are a "feeler" then I work primarily with emotions. If a "doer" then I work primarily with behaviors. Note that these are avenues for approaching the work not a single minded or exclusive focus. I approach our work from an integrated perspective even when using evidence based protocols. Some research has indicated that the ability to flexibly apply the treatment protocol enhances outcomes.

This is a highly abstract view of the process of therapy. Each client is different and the process becomes much more detailed as it is tailored to you, your unique personality and circumstances and the specific problems and goals you choose to address. Treating depression differs from treating panic disorder which differs from treating PTSD. 

The process of change begins by defining the issues, addressing connected thoughts and feelings, understanding how these issues show up in different contexts (work, school, family, intimate relationships, sex), and developing strategies for resolving them. These strategies include developing important perspectives that can help clarify the problem, exploring the pros and cons of the problem, prioritizing, determining treatment options, and engaging in concrete steps to change. The goal being to free oneself from the constraints of the problem and the emotional history that generated it.

This process necessitates a safe environment in which you can feel valued and respected, and your difficulties are viewed simply as the result of the kinds of untoward experiences mentioned above. In such an environment, you will develop the safety to examine all assumptions, attitudes and motivations that place limits on the potentialities for your life and to explore new ways of being. The ultimate goal of counseling and/or therapy, whether behavioral, cognitive or experiential, is the recovery of the full human capacity to think accurately, to enjoy principled and mutually beneficial relationships, and to live as fully as possible in all areas of endeavor.

To relieve the emotional and physical pain of depression, fears, and anxiety. To help you heal from the trauma of childhood abuse, domestic violence, war or other severe experiences.

To restore and/or enhance your sense of self-value, competence and desirability.

To change that which is preventing you from achieving your goals and desires.

To grow your ability to manage your frustrations and rebound from disappointment; to become more resilient.

To increase your appreciation for life's possibilities.

To enhance your capacity to more fully live in the here and now with clarity, equanimity and mindfulness.

To do all of this while fostering an appreciation and facility for developing meaningful relationships that are mutually gratifying and based on equality and mutual respect.

My theoretical orientation is integrative. It starts with a view of our subjective experience that, for practical purposes, can be thought of as comprised of body, emotion, mind, soul and spirit. All of these domains of experience need to be considered if one's aim is to respect the whole person. This results in an equal privileging of body based sensations, emotions, thoughts, meaning and the spiritual. To address the whole person and the unity of cognition, affect and behavior many different systems must be integrated, tailored to your needs and made relevant to your current life circumstances and relationships.

I view most of the major psychological systems (Psychoanalytic, Behaviorism, Cognitive-Behavioral, Humanistic, Existential) as having some validity. Most, however, privilege a particular domain of experience, focus on one element of mind (cognition, affect, or action), tend to reject the importance of other domains, and tend to minimize their interdependence. As a result, I practice from an integrated approach that includes relational, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral elements. However, I believe that the relationship that develops between therapist and client is the most important element of the change process.

I use behavioral, cognitive, experiential and emotionally focused interventions. I am particularly interested in the self as the core organizing concept of our subjective experience. I strive to help you increase your sense of wholeness and value, self-reliance, self-trust and self-efficacy.