Seeking out therapy is both an individual and family choice. There are many reasons why people come to therapy. Individuals and families sometimes come to counseling to help process and heal from trauma, a crisis, or abuse. Sometimes it is to deal with long-standing psychological issues, or problems with anxiety or depression. Other times it is in response to unexpected changes in one's life such as a divorce or school/work change. Many seek the advice of a counselor as they pursue their own personal exploration and growth. Other reason may include dealing with a personal loss, to sort things out to have a happier life, to learn new social skills, or to improve relationships. Working with a therapist can help provide insight, support, and new strategies for all types of life challenges. Therapy can help address many types of issues including depression, anxiety, conflict, grief, stress management, body-image issues, and general life transitions. Therapy is right for anyone who is interested in getting the most out of their life by taking responsibility, creating greater self-awareness, and working towards change in their lives.

Everyone goes through challenging situations in life, and while you may have successfully navigated through other difficulties you've faced, there's nothing wrong with seeking out extra support when you need it. In fact, therapy is for people who have enough self-awareness to realize they need a helping hand, and that is something to be admired. You are taking responsibility by accepting where you're at in life and making a commitment to change the situation by seeking therapy. Therapy provides long-lasting benefits and support, giving you the tools you need to avoid triggers, re-direct damaging patterns, and overcome whatever challenges you face.

A number of benefits are available from participating in counseling. Therapists can provide support, problem-solving skills, and enhanced coping strategies for issues such as dealing with trauma, depression, anxiety, relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues, grief, stress management, body image issues and creative blocks. Many people also find that counselors can be a tremendous asset to managing personal growth, interpersonal relationships, family concerns, parenting issues, and the hassles of daily life. Therapists can provide a fresh perspective on a difficult problem or point you in the direction of a solution. The benefits you obtain from therapy depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn. Some of the benefits available from therapy include:

• Attaining a better understanding of yourself, your goals and values
• Developing skills for improving your relationships
• Finding resolution to the issues or concerns that led you to seek therapy
• Learning new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
• Managing anger, grief, depression, and other emotional pressures
• Improving communications and listening skills
• Changing old behavior patterns and developing new ones
• Discovering new ways to solve problems in your family
• Improving your self-esteem and boosting self-confidence

Every therapy session is unique and caters to each individual and their specific goals. It is standard for therapists to discuss the primary issues and concerns in your life during therapy sessions. It is common to schedule a series of weekly sessions, where each session lasts around fifty minutes. Therapy can be short-term, focusing on a specific issue, or longer-term, addressing more complex issues or ongoing personal growth. There may be times when you are asked to take certain actions outside of the therapy sessions, such as reading a relevant book or keeping records to track certain behaviors. It is important process what has been discussed and integrate it into your life between sessions. For therapy to be most effective you must be an active participant, both during and between the sessions. People seeking psychotherapy are willing to take responsibility for their actions, work towards self-change and create greater awareness in their lives. Here are some things you can expect out of therapy:

• Compassion, respect and understanding
• Perspectives to illuminate persistent patterns and negative feelings
• Real strategies for enacting positive change
• Effective and proven techniques along with practical guidance

As a therapist, I have always considered myself to be a guide for my clients. I help them explore their lives and discover those things that need to change in order to heal their life and relationships. I am here to guide you along your own personal path to healing and happiness.

The length of time an individual is in counseling varies greatly, depending on the nature of the problem you wish to focus on, the frequency/consistency that you come to counseling, and your participation both in and out of session. As your therapist, I will establish with you a regular schedule based on your specific need.   A person may come to counseling once or twice or may choose to continue counseling until they have met their goals for life improvement.

In some cases, I have had clients come in for just a few sessions but I also have other clients that desire continued support.   It can range from a few weeks to a year or more. Some clients find four to six sessions to be helpful, especially when dealing mainly with specific parenting issues and questions. Usually however, children and families need a minimum of between six and twelve sessions to benefit. Most people begin to see significant improvement in three to six months. More sessions may be needed for more serious difficulties.

Keep in mind that most emotional and/or relationship problems have evolved over several years, and it is unrealistic to expect them to be solved quickly. In most cases, sessions are scheduled weekly and then spaced farther apart as your goals begin to be met.

The length of counseling or therapy cannot usually be determined ahead of time, but the decision to continue or not will ultimately always be yours. We will periodically discuss your progress to determine how many sessions might be needed.
Some clients will engage in therapy for a period of time and then take a break from therapy knowing they can return at any point in time for "booster" sessions or if difficulties arise.

Simply contact me to set up a free 10 minute phone consultation. Should we decide to go further, we will discuss an appropriate schedule for your first appointment.  My office hours are: Wednesdays from 9am – 8pm. Evening appointments are also available to help meet the needs of young clients who are in school and their working parents. Each session lasts typically 45-50 minutes, except 30 minute play therapy sessions with younger children. Sessions are by appointment only meaning your time is reserved for you. After the free phone consultation we will decide together my services are a good fit for your counseling needs. Every effort is made to schedule new clients as soon as possible. Typically, clients schedule appointments either weekly or bi-weekly.

The purpose of the first session is to evaluate your situation and make recommendations about the best course of action to help you reach your goals. If you are seeking help for a child, we will typically meet with you at the first session and have you bring your child to the next meeting. If you are seeking help for an adolescent, both you and your child will attend the first session. You will need to arrive 15 minutes early to your initial session to fill out the necessary paperwork.

"Confidentiality" is a big word for little ears, so we use age-appropriate language to explain our obligation and commitment to privacy and privileged communication. Parents are also given a Notice of Privacy Practices fully explaining confidentiality and all that implies.

Basically, all records are for documentation and personal review, and are never shared with anyone, unless permission has been granted to do so or legally required. At times, collaboration with other professionals is necessary to provide the best treatment, and it is standard practice to share only the relevant information, without personal or distinguishing information.

There are certain circumstances in which confidentiality must be broken and are as follows:

• Suspected child abuse or dependant adult or elder abuse. The child discloses something that indicates the possibility of abuse, neglect or a situation in which the child could be harmed. The therapist is required to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
• If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person. The therapist is required to notify the police.
• If a client intends to harm himself or herself. The therapist will make every effort to work with the individual to ensure their safety. However, if an individual does not cooperate, additional measures may need to be taken.
• The court issues a subpoena for a trial requiring documentation of therapy sessions.
• A release of information is requested by the parent and/or child.

We are bound by legal and ethical obligations to protect your privacy and rights as clients, and it is our commitment to you to uphold the highest level of confidentiality with your records.

In working with children, confidentiality sometimes gets a little tricky. Parents often want to know what is happening in the play room and what the child is expressing during therapy. You need to know that our responsibility is to protect the rights of the child we are working with, which requires that the specifics of the sessions cannot be discussed with the parents.

That does not mean that parents are left out of the therapy process, nor imply that you will not be informed of what the focus of the sessions is. We are free to discuss broad themes and general areas of concern during parent consultations, but not what is said or done as part of the play. Thanks for helping us keep your child's rights protected!

No, only a psychiatrist or your doctor can prescribe medication. Most problems can be solved without medication. However, some problems include a medical component and medication is a valuable resource. During the counseling process we can help you determine whether or not medication is indicated. If this is the case, we can refer you to a psychiatrist and collaborate with him or her in order to coordinate your care.

Therapeutic Associates, LLC is conveniently located in the Atlanta area. Click on the directions page for a map and for directions to my office.

I offer flexible hours with daytime and evening appointments available on Wednesdays.  Please call or e-mail for availability.  

Our fees vary according to the type of service provided. The fee will be collected at the start of each session. Please note that if you are paying online with a credit card an additional $5.oo processing fee will be added to your invoice.

Initial Assessment
• The first visit I will gather information regarding your/your child’s background and symptoms. We will develop a therapy plan and set goals. This session will be a 50-minute session. The cost of the initial assessment is $125.00. This price reflects the additional paperwork for an initial assessment session.

Individual Counseling
• A 45-50-minute session is $100.00. This is a basic follow up session.

Children's Sessions
• Younger children are not able to handle 45-50-minute therapy sessions. A 30-minute individual session or play therapy session is $55.00.
  
  
Groups
• Adults and Teens: 1.5 hr group a week is $220.00 a month ($55.00 per group).
• Children: 1 hr a week is $160.00 a month ($40 per group)

Any services beyond the standard 45-50 minute session, such as phone consultation exceeding 20 minutes, excessive paperwork, or court appearances/preparation, will incur additional fees to be discussed prior to service provided.

I also provide a limited number of reduced-fee spaces in my case load. If you feel that you qualify for one of these slots, please inform me at the beginning of our first session. Because these slots are limited there may be a waiting list. If there are no slots immediately available I am able to provide you with other low-cost or sliding-scale referrals.

Your appointment time is reserved for you. I ask that you give 24-hour notice if you are not going to make your appointment so that I can fill the time with another client. There is no charge for any session cancelled 24 or more hours prior to the scheduled time.  However, sessions cancelled with less than 24 hours notice will be charged full rate of session scheduled. If you “no show” or cancel your appointment without 24-hour notification the full cancellation charge plus the $3.00 process fee for credit cards will be charged to your card.

The office has voice mail so you can leave a message or email me. I can conduct telephone sessions if you are available, but not able to come into to the office. The payment is the same as an in office sessions which can be paid online by credit card through pay pal or professionalcharges.com.

Please note that insurance companies do not reimburse for missed appointments.

You are responsible for the full payment at the time service is provided. I accept cash or major credit cards (payable through paypal or professionalcharges.com). Please click on the above link to make an online payment. I am available to help you make online payments should you need assistance.

I do not accept personal checks at this time. Payment for session is expected before the session begins. You can either pay me directly in cash when you arrive for your appointment or pay in advance online through paypal. I am now offering clients the additional service of keeping credit cards securely on file and making payments for them through professionalcharges.com. Due to office policy, I am not allowed to see clients who have not paid for their session upfront. If you are using a credit card a processing fee of $5.00 will be added to your session fee.

Therapeutic Associates, LLC and E. Amanda Dellinger do not participate on any insurance panels and are considered an “out of network provider.” Clients pay us and then are reimbursed by their insurance directly. Many of our clients use their out of network benefits to obtain reimbursement for our services. Many insurance companies do cover our services or cover a percentage, however; since coverage varies widely from policy to policy, we recommend that you review your benefits to determine your expected reimbursement. Please direct questions about reimbursement amounts and timeliness to your insurance company.  

Payment is expected in full at the time of service. If you wish to use your insurance benefits, it will be necessary for you to file for reimbursement directly with your carrier. You will be provided with a receipt for the counseling service at the end of each session that is made to attach to your claim form to submit for reimbursement. Please note that we do not complete any insurance paperwork.

Choice: YOU and your therapist are in charge of goals, length of treatment, and therapeutic choices.
Savings: You pay less because we don’t spend valuable hours on insurance paperwork.
Privacy: Insurance requires diagnosis to authorize treatment. These negative labels can follow a client through life and interfere with insurability later. Your files are NOT shared with anyone.

I offer Group Therapy to adults, teenagers and children. The goal of group therapy is similar to individual therapy; just in a different environment. Not only do you receive feedback and support from me, but also from your peers. Please note that a half-hour screening meeting (evaluation) is required before group sessions. This is to ensure the best group placement and to discuss therapeutic goals.

Children's Groups
Children's Groups are very effective to treat children with behavioral problems, poor social skills, low self-esteem, Asperger Syndrome, ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Using therapeutic games with younger children, the goal of my groups is to increase your child’s emotional intelligence.

There are five elements of emotional intelligence:

• Social skills
• Empathy
• Identifying feelings
• Containment of feelings
• Perseverance

**Parental involvement is key to a successful outcome for your child. I will meet regularly the parents of the children in the group to discuss their children’s progress toward their goals. In a group setting, we will explore parenting issues and search for techniques that will work with the children.

**Children groups meet weekly for an hour. I only allow ten children in a group. The parent meeting is quarterly with each parent having the option to meet individually with the therapist at any time.

Adolescent Groups
Like children's groups, the prime goal of adolescent groups is to enhance your teen's emotional intelligence. Unlike younger clients, though, teens are more focused on talk therapy than play therapy, although there are times when teens engage in activities appropriate to their age.

Group therapy provides a safe place for adolescents to talk about “everything.” Let's face it, teens feel there is just about nothing they can discuss with their parents and that robs them of a needed adult perspective. Group offers them a safe place to talk about their concerns and receive feedback from the adult therapist. At the same time, your teen will be challenged by his or her peers when the group detects that she or he is being less than honest with them and himself, or making a bad decision.

As with children, parental input is key to successful adolescent therapy and always welcome.

Adult Groups
Adult groups are weekly and run 1.5 hours. Members of the group share problems and issues they are facing. Group is beneficial to deal with low-self esteem, feeling awkward in social situations or problems with interpersonal relationships. Group therapy also is effective in working through depression, anxiety and similar emotional challenges. Because there are strict rules governing confidentiality, group therapy provides a safe place for you to overcome the challenges affecting your life. You must be prepared to give at least a three-month commitment to allow time to build the supportive relationships you will gain in group therapy.

Yes.  Teenagers are often helped by having individual sessions, participating in a group, or by family therapy.   Teenagers can help the therapist decide what works best for them.

Over the years, there have been concerns that traditional family therapists have ignored the voices of the children in the family and have concentrated mainly on the issues of the parents. For this reason, play therapy has become an effective way of working with children. During play therapy, the child is seen alone giving him or her an opportunity to be heard by a caring adult therapist and to work through current difficulties.

I offer play therapy because I believe that sometimes children need a special place to express themselves safely and to have their voices heard and acknowledged. Often children are afraid to express themselves to their parents for a number of reasons. The benefit of having an understanding play therapist is that children will feel free to express themselves without being afraid of hurting their parents or of causing their parents to disapprove of them.

There have also been concerns in the past that therapists who work only with children will exclude the parents from the therapeutic process, thus causing the parents to feel even more inadequate. For this reason, I believe that as a parent, you need to be an integral part of the therapeutic process with your child. You are the key people in the life of your child and need to be acknowledged for this extremely important role that you play. When providing parent counseling services to you, I will help you to understand your child better and learn new ways of interacting with your child. This will enable you to be a source of continuing support to your child long after therapy has terminated.

I also believe that family counseling, where your family is seen together in therapy, and filial play therapy, where one parent and one child are seen together in therapy, provide enormous benefits when needed. These methods offer a way of tying everything together so that your entire family system benefits.

I offer a variety of ways for you and your child to work in therapy. Depending on your particular needs, you and your child may see me individually and/or together.

Throughout childhood, children express themselves much better through play rather than by talking. In play therapy, children express themselves symbolically by playing, and will communicate their conscious and unconscious feelings and experiences through play. Emotional experiences that are important to the child or have impacted the child in some way will show up as play behaviors. In play therapy, children are provided with specially chosen toys to enable them to say with toys what they have difficulty saying with words.

In play therapy, children do not have to talk directly about their problems to gain relief. Play therapy allows children to distance themselves from difficult feelings and memories, which would normally be too challenging for them to talk about directly.

In play therapy, children learn they can safely express difficult feelings to gain a sense of relief. When children express their feelings and thoughts in play therapy the difficult feelings and memories become less intense. This results in problem behaviors decreasing or being eliminated altogether.

In play therapy, children will play out difficult feelings or stressful experiences in order to gain an understanding of them. Creative thoughts are encouraged and children can work through and find solutions to their problems consciously and unconsciously during play therapy. Children can then regain a sense of control and safety in their lives resulting in increased self-confidence and changes in behavior.

When adults face a problem, they will usually think about what happened, look at it from different perspectives, talk about it with someone they trust, and plan how to handle a similar situation in the future. During play therapy, children do these same things using their imaginations.

As a method of counseling children, play therapy has been found to be effective for children experiencing a wide variety of social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Play therapy is also an excellent way to help children recover and heal from stressful or traumatic experiences.

• Children experience a therapeutic relationship with the play therapist; the play therapist provides an environment for the child that encourages healthy growth and development, improves self-esteem, allows self-expression, facilitates problem-solving, and supports the development of self-control
• Children become more self-aware; they learn to identify their thoughts and feelings; they begin to discover and understand themselves, which leads to the formation of a healthy self-concept
• Children develop empathy and begin to understand and respect the thoughts and feelings of others
• Children learn self-control by making appropriate choices and decisions for themselves, thus taking responsibility for their own actions
• Children learn healthier ways of interacting with others and better ways of coping with difficult situations
• Children learn to correct their misunderstandings and develop more realistic ways of thinking
• Through children's self-expression in play, adults are better able to understand children; this leads to adults being able to support children more effectively
• Play therapy reduces anxiety about traumatic events in the child’s life such as illness, death, parental conflict, separation and divorce. It:
  • Reduces the effects of trauma when abuses have taken place,
  • Treats childhood depression,
  • Promotes higher emotional intelligence,
  • Reduces sleep problems, and
  • Treats behavior and school problems

Just as a counselor who works with adults keeps the information shared in sessions confidential, your child's Play Therapist will keep the information from their sessions confidential (exceptions apply). However, they will meet with you periodically to discuss your child's play in general themes, hear your concerns, and talk about any questions you may have related to your child's progress in Play Therapy.

Toys are carefully selected for the Play Therapy room to facilitate creative and emotional expression from children. The types of toys used can be played with in many ways allowing the child to express themselves freely. The toys are very durable and sturdy to allow for repeated use and rough play.

Some of the greatest philosophers of all time have acknowledged the importance and benefits of play. We learn the most about ourselves and our world when engaged in play.
Play Therapy is an option for children who are having difficulties coping with life situations. Though children may not be able to express themselves fluently with words, they are fluent in the language of play. Play Therapy allows them to express themselves in the way in which they are most comfortable.

Throughout their lives, most children go through difficult times and some children need more help than others to get through them. If you or other adults in your child's life are concerned about your child or their behavior, play therapy may help.

When children are not equipped to solve their own problems, they often act out and are unhappy. Play therapy provides the opportunity for therapists to assess and understand children’s play. When children can confront their problems in the play session, they are able to develop more appropriate resolutions and gain insight about how to handle situations.

The number of sessions varies from child to child and depends upon the nature of the presenting issue, the child's personality, and the child's perception. Each session is approximately 30 minutes long and is either weekly or fortnightly depending on the needs of the individual child. Studies have shown the average length of time for a child to receive play therapy is 20 weeks, although some children need fewer or additional sessions.

Our Therapists are specifically trained to provide an environment of acceptance, empathy and understanding. Play Therapy uses the child's natural tendency to "play out" their reactions to life situations, in the presence of a trained Therapist. This can help the child to feel accepted and understood, and gain a sense of control or understanding of difficult situations.

In the process of growing up children often go through difficult times, which may cause them to experience painful emotions. This can cause them to behave in a way that creates problems that a child or their family may be unable to resolve alone.

Children with a life threatening condition, and their brothers and sisters, have to deal with experiences and emotions that are new and troubling. Play Therapy gives them an opportunity to work through those feelings and allows them to come to an understanding of what has occurred. The parents may also gain a better understanding of what their child may be going through.

Play therapy especially benefits children 3-12, and helps children take responsibility for behaviors, establish creative solutions to problems, accept themselves and others, experience and express emotions, learn respect for feelings of others, cultivate relational skills with family, gain pride in their abilities, and more!

If your child is struggling with emotional difficulties or behavior problems, or if he or she has gone through a difficult or traumatic situation, as a parent you are likely to be feeling:

• worried or concerned about your child
• powerless or helpless because what you are doing may not be working and you don't know what to do to change things
• angry and frustrated with your child's behaviors
• confused and uncertain as to what is really the best way to parent
• guilty or ashamed that somehow you may have failed as a parent
• discouraged and inadequate because your child is experiencing problems

Parent counseling is a way for you to reduce your stress levels and to increase your sense of confidence when interacting with your child.

• You will be supported in identifying and expressing your feelings related to your child's difficulties so that these feelings will not interfere with your parenting
• You will be supported in exploring various ways of interacting with your child that will improve the relationship between you and your child
• You can learn new parenting skills and behavior management strategies
• You will be updated on your child's progress if he or she is involved in play therapy; you are provided with the general themes the child is expressing in play therapy and ideas to work adaptively with the child at home; additionally, you will have an opportunity to provide me with information about significant changes in your child's behavior as well as to update me on important events that have occurred between play sessions
• You can learn specialized therapeutic parenting techniques, such as advanced listening and comforting techniques, if your child has experienced a stressful or traumatic event; children exposed to a trauma usually need therapeutic parenting following the trauma; normal parenting practices are often not sufficient to help the child heal and recover from the trauma
• You will be supported in dealing with other issues causing stress in your life that may be impacting on your ability to help your child

When you become a parent, your experiences with your own family when you were a child serve to guide you in your current role. You may be repeating the same parenting behaviors as your parents or caregivers used on you in spite your best intentions. Alternately, you may have consciously decided to parent in completely the opposite way from how you were parented as a child. While some of these parenting behaviors may be useful and adaptive, some of them may not be.

It is important for you to be aware of how and where you learned your current parenting strategies. Then you are able to make decisions about building on your current healthy parenting skills and discarding and replacing the more unhealthy parenting approaches.

Your family is more that just a group of individuals sharing a particular physical space or relational ties. Your family can be considered a system in itself, with its own rules, roles, and power structure. Family members collectively form a whole, or system, that can experience a wide range of difficulties. What affects one member of your family is likely to affect all others in the family.

The relationships between members of your family are deep. Individuals in your family are tied to each other by powerful emotional attachments that will persist over the lifetime of your family. Family counseling focuses on the relationships and interactions between your family members.

• You and your family members can change unhealthy patterns of interacting and communicating with each other to more functional patterns of interaction
• You and your family members can strengthen relationships between each other
• You will understand how your childhood family relationships and extended family relationships can impact your current family relationships
• You will learn how a healthy family structure contributes to healthy family relationships
• You will learn to encourage separateness of individual family members, while still maintaining and developing connectedness between family members

Filial play therapy is a unique counseling approach where you and your child work together to improve child and family problems. You are taught basic play therapy skills so that you can become involved in the therapeutic process with your child. This empowers you to become the primary support for your child.

Filial play therapy has been successfully used with many child and family problems including:

• Anxiety and depression
• Anger and aggression
• Relationship problems
• Trauma
• Abuse/neglect
• Single parenting, step-parenting
• High conflict divorce
• Adoption/foster care
• Family substance abuse
• Chronic illness

Filial play therapy has been researched a great deal. It has wide applicability with very consistent research results indicating significant improvements in children's problems and parents' skills as well as significant decreases in parents' stress levels.

• You will learn basic play therapy skills so your child will be able to benefit from the therapeutic aspects of play long after professional services have ended
• Your child will develop a more positive perspective of you as a parent
• You will be able to understand your child better
• Your child's problem behaviors will be reduced or eliminated
• You will learn new parenting skills
• Communication with your child will be opened up and improved
• You will develop self-confidence with your child, thus reducing your stress and frustration levels
• Your relationship with your child will be strengthened
• You will learn about the importance of play for your child
• Your family's ability to have fun together will be enhanced
• You will develop coping skills for future problems