Spruce Creek Counseling LLC

Our emotions can seem overpowering sometimes...our "logical" mind can often contain voices of others we've encountered along the way...taking space when those emotions and thoughts are rising, to sit and notice, can allow you to hear your essence/inner voice which knows what you need to return to yourself. 🩵🙏🩵

As mentioned previously there have been some changes with insurance companies discontinuing services in Colorado. As such, it seemed like a great time to provide an updated list of all the insurances SCC accepts! You can also access this list on my website www.sprucecreekcounseling.com

Aetna
Aetna Allied Benefit System
Aetna AmeriBen
Aetna CoreSource
Aetna EBMS
Aetna GEHA
Aetna Gravie
Aetna Marpai
Aetna Meritain
Aetna WebTPA
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (HMO)
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (PPO)
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield - Pathway
Bright Health Plan
Centivo
Cigna
Cigna HealthPartners
Cigna TPA
Cigna-EAP
Foster Source
Justice Reskill Benefit Network
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente EPO
Lucent Health - Summit County Government Plan
Optum - Carveout
Optum/United-EAP
Oscar Health Plan
TriWest
United All Savers
United GEHA/Shared Services
United HealthScope Benefits
United Healthcare (CO)
United Healthcare Golden Rule
United Oxford (CO)
United Student Resources (CO)
United Surest
United UMR

With Friday Health Plans discontinuing service in Colorado as of today...I am happy to announce a couple more insurances I'm now paneled with...

Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente EPO
and Lucent Health - Summit County Government Plan

I am sending all the strength and focus to those of you struggling to establish a new insurance provider after the abrupt FHP announcement! For a full list of all insurances I accept, check out my website!

SCC is excited to announce it's newest therapeutic offering - Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)!

I am partnering with prescriber Julie Cain PMHNP-BC to offer my clients this opportunity. Julie and I both recently completed a nearly year long intensive program through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute where we were educated on working with ketamine, M**A, and psilocybin. Ketamine is currently the only legal option in the US but the research surrounding M**A and psilocybin looks promising as well and FDA approval is in the works. I am happy to have connected with Julie as she is like-minded in her approach and will be a wonderful addition to the team for my clients.

KAP is a holistic modality where ketamine is utilized as a complement to psychotherapy to help eligible clients experience more frequent breakthroughs and sustained improvement in symptoms. I will take on the psychotherapy aspects of this process by doing the preparatory sessions, the medicine journeys, and the integration process. While Julie will take on the medical aspects of assessing for eligibility, creating the appropriate treatment plan/dosing, and following up to tailor the experience to your unique needs.

Ketamine is a legal, safe, and effective way to treat many mental health conditions when used in the therapeutic setting because it has rapidly-acting antidepressant and mood enhancing effects, which can begin to take effect 1-2 hours after treatment. Ketamine works by blocking the brain's NMDA receptors as well as stimulating the AMPA receptors, which are thought to help form new synaptic connections and boost neural circuits that regulate stress and mood. Ketamine has been shown to enhance overall neuroplasticity for lasting symptom improvement.

The effects of ketamine can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the person. These effects tend to make the individual feel "far from" their body, due to the dissociative nature of ketamine. This feeling allows for shifts in perspective that can feel expansive in nature. Your motor and verbal abilities will be reduced, so you'll be lying down in a comfortable position during the experience with eye shades and therapeutic music to facilitate your processing. Once these effects subside, we'll spend the remainder of your appointment processing through/discussing your experience. It may feel hard to articulate what has happened during the experience but often the insights gained are clear. These insights can present themselves immediately or gradually over the next few days/weeks. The integration session following this medicine journey will assist in continued processing of any of the information you may not have fully understood during your medicine journey.

I am excited to be adding this incredible medicine to my practice and am here to answer any questions you may have about the process.

It is not! You may find in your healing process, which is a lifelong journey, that you even go back down some of those hills...it's okay, it's all part of the process. If you see those back steps as opportunity to take in new awareness, the growth that follows will be even more rewarding. You are always learning, shifting, and changing. It's not about perfection and it's not a race. You will arrive where you're meant to, just in time...so just keep moving 🩷

This is undeniably the hardest part of engaging in therapy...often you feel as though things are "getting worse" and in some cases they might be, slightly... but usually that feeling is actually correlated with acknowledging emotions you've been storing all along but not allowing yourself to feel. The only way to "get over" emotions is to go through them.
So, don't lose hope... you can and will get better but first you have to acknowledge how you're truly feeling, and drop the mask/cover you've build to survive thus far.
Once you've found yourself again, you'll be amazed at how much things change!

Just a little Friday reminder! 💜💜💜

I strongly recommend this book! For those who have struggled with their relationship with their parents, for those who are parents, for anyone! It is so insightful and really draws attention to the constant need for self-awareness and growth 💜

🤣🤣🤣...okay but seriously, in part, the reason you might feel like mental health struggles are like collecting Pokémon is because there is significant overlap in diagnostic criteria. It's part of why the diagnosis often isn't really the important part (not to say that there's never value in diagnosis, but that is unique to the individual).
We are often a product of our environments and the behaviors that have the potential to cause us the most grief are typically learned behaviors that we then have to put in the work to unlearn...I know you're dramatically sighing as you read this because there's an inner angsty teen part of you that's like "but I don't wanna have to unlearn crap that someone else should have unlearned before me"...I'll sit with you there, but I promise if you can put in the work and effort to unlearn it, you'll set yourself free and life will improve dramatically. Not only that, but you'll quit giving the gift of generational trauma and instead give the gift of generational healing!
If you are ready for that, don't hesitate to reach out! 719-851-0838 (text/call) or email [email protected]! I'd be honored to hold space for your journey 🥰🙏🥰

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Lack of boundaries and poor mental health will undeniably manifest as physical illness. The brain/body connection is strong and we store far more than we often are willing to acknowledge!

Important Notice:
Due to an upcoming surgery I will be out of office December 20th through January 8th. I will be returning to office January 9th, though still at that time recovering. I recognize that this is a fairly long break but it is necessary to ensure I adequately take care of myself. If you are looking for services or in need of support you can still reach out in this period of time, however, my responses may not be timely.
If you are actively in crisis please utilize 9-8-8 or your local crisis services to ensure that you receive adequate support immediately.

I appreciate everyone's understanding during this time and hope that you all have a joyous and peaceful holiday season.

A wonderful opportunity to show or receive support. I cannot attend, but my heart will be there in support of all my favorite folks in the community. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Sending my deepest condolences and love to all those impacted by the tragedy at Club Q. My heart is broken for yet another unreasonable attack on the LGBTTSQIA+ community. SCC is and always will be an ally and safe space for ALL humans. You are loved, important, and worthy.

If you are struggling or in need of support as a result of this tragedy please do not hesitate to reach out and I will do my best to help support you and help you find consistent support if needed since my schedule is currently full. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

A lovely outline of what healthy boundaries look like and how to implement them. Boundaries are for YOU, they set the parameters of what you're willing to do/tolerate. 💜 If we become too loose in our boundaries that's often when we find ourselves feeling "used" or mistreated. Boundaries are self-love.

For those who may not have family locally, or the financial means to have a traditional holiday meal, or those just looking for community! 💜💜💜
Huge thanks in advance to the Salida Community Center for hosting this event!

Helpful guidance for identifying manipulation in your life...also should be noted that while the picture looks masculine, it applies to all genders and walks of life.

Happy Veterans Day to my brothers and sisters who served before me, beside me, and those still serving! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Don't forget I'm offering free counseling services for veterans and first responders on select Fridays each month.

Dates in November are as follows: 11th, 18th, and 25th.
December's dates are: the 23rd (pending my surgery recovery) and the 30th!

If you or someone you know is in need of care call/text 719-851-0838 or email me at [email protected]

I'm proud to have served and honored to get to serve you all in my community ❤️🤍💙

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month! This particular month is extremely important to me both as a licensed professional who specializes in trauma treatment and as a DV survivor. I have included some graphics below of the current statistics as provided by the NCADV.
Domestic Violence is far more involved than just physical abuse. It can include but is not limited to; financial abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, stalking, harassment, and another other tactics utilized to control another human being. Domestic Violence is not something to be taken lightly and just because you cannot "see" the abuse does not mean it does not exist.
If you or someone you know is being impacted by domestic violence please reach out to the local resources and help them get the support they need. Leaving is undeniably the best choice when you are in an unsafe environment, however, there are risks associated with that decision and safety planning is important.

Words of wisdom 💜💜💜

Red flags are often talked about when it comes to relationships, so here are some "green" flags.

Relationships do not require perfection, but they do require respect and valuing one another. 💜

September is su***de awareness month!
In honor of this month and its importance here are some risk factors and warning signs that can be indicative of you or someone you love struggling. This is not an exhaustive list but it is a great start to raising your awareness around what to look for.

If you know of someone struggling or you yourself are in a dark place, there is support! You can text/call 9-8-8 to speak to someone with the national su***de hotline. You can also call 719-539-6502 for the local community mental health crisis line.

Su***de is 100% preventable and it requires all of us paying attention and checking in on those around us, not just in September but all year long!

Introducing our new space for healing!!! I'm so excited to see all my wonderful clients in this new space. I love it and I hope all of you will too! The downtown location will really ensure confidentiality in our small mountain town and the intimate space lends toward truly feeling connected and supported in your trauma treatment! I'm also excited for future psychedelic assisted work in this space as it is quiet and comfortable, which will be a perfect setting!

Given how much time many of us are spending in front of computers/phones/other electronic devices as of late I thought this video might be appreciated!

This is a postural reset video done by Dr. Arielle Schwartz!
https://youtu.be/ooRa8EtDxfY

Enjoy!!

A Postural Reset: nourish your nervous system This mini-experiential talk invites you to join me in a brief postural reset for "Forward Head Position" which is a common postural imbalance when we sit at ...

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

Spruce Creek Counseling is MOVING to a new office location! This move will be official on September 5th so all in person sessions for next week will be in the new location.

Our new address is 129 1/2 West 3rd Street Suite 8. My office is directly above First Street Flooring (across the street from Moonlight), you will enter through the green door to the right of First Street Flooring and go up the stairs to suite 8, you can't miss me once you get up there!

I look forward to seeing you all in a new space! Thank you all for your patience as I get moved this week!

The therapeutic process is often not very easy and it doesn't always feel super great when you're working through hard things...but I promise it's worth it. 💜

🤣🤣🤣🤣 I mean 🤷‍♀️. And for my favorite folks who will feel guilty when they read this don't worry, it's really common lol.

Just a reminder for all my awesome clients and any prospective clients...I am on vacation August 1st through August 7th.

If you are actively in crisis please use local crisis resources (for Salida & BV that is SolVista 719-539-6502) or dial #988 to speak to the national crisis line.

If it is non-emergent feel free to text or call and leave a voice mail at 719-851-0838...or email [email protected]. I will be sure to get back to everyone when I return.

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My favorite analogy for my job is that I'm the scaffolding in your process....I support you as you "repair your house" but I cannot make the "repairs" for you. 🥰

🚨 IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! Beginning tomorrow July 16th, 2022 the National Su***de Prevention Lifeline will become the Su***de & Crisis Lifeline with a NEW 3-digit easy to remember dialing code of 988! You no longer have to remember a long 800 number and can simply dial that 3 digit code to reach crisis services!

This is the same resource just with an easier way to access it!