Although we are abundantly cared for within our organization, you may feel like you need some additional and professional help in coping with the challenges you’re facing.

Many hesitate before reaching out to a mental health professional due to concerns about not being understood, being encouraged to adopt worldly thinking, or being exposed to types of therapy that may violate their Bible-trained conscience.

As fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses, we offer mental health coaching that’s in line with our beliefs and Bible principles — combining Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), nervous system work, and Somatic Therapy to support you through anxiety, depression, and trauma.

What We Treat

• Mild to severe anxiety, including General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), and Panic Disorder (PD)
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and trauma
• Emotional dysregulation
• Communication challenges in relationships

Our Approach: Two Methods, Working Together

We use a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Somatic Therapy — the mind and the body, working together. Here’s what each one does.

CBT: Working With Your Thinking

CBT is an evidence-based approach to mental and emotional wellbeing that actually works. It’s the gold-standard, first-line treatment for a wide variety of disorders, built on a simple idea: how you interpret life’s events shapes how you feel.

It’s not the situations in our lives that cause distress, but rather our interpretations of those situations.

Aaron T. Beck

Rather than digging through the past, CBT focuses on your current thoughts and beliefs. Together, we identify, challenge, and change the thinking patterns holding you back.

We do this by:

• Recognizing and reevaluating distorted thinking
• Understanding the motivations and behaviors of others
• Building confidence in your own abilities
• Developing problem-solving skills for challenging situations

CBT also works on behavior directly — facing fears instead of avoiding them, role-playing challenging interactions, and learning to calm your mind and body.

Somatic Therapy: Working With Your Body

Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach that focuses on the connection between body and mind — through grounding techniques, body awareness, physical movement, emotional release, and mindfulness.

It’s especially effective for trauma, anxiety, and depression.

Backed by research: a tsunami trauma study found 90% of participants saw significant improvement with somatic therapy.

Depression often brings a sense of disconnection — numbness, feeling “not like yourself.” Somatic therapy reconnects body and mind, helping you notice how depression shows up physically and work through it from there — often improving your ability to recognize your own emotional needs in the moment.

Why We Combine Them

We started with CBT alone. But we found that a meaningful number of clients weren’t seeing the results we felt they should — until we began incorporating somatic work. The improvement was dramatic.

Our approach is built on the idea that what happens to us in life is stored not just in the mind, but in the body too. Combining physical awareness with a discussion of your feelings gives you a more comprehensive, holistic path to healing.

What It Takes

After completing our intake forms, we’ll build a coaching schedule that fits you — generally 12 to 20 sessions, once or twice a week, 50 minutes each. Every session includes a short at-home assignment (about 10 minutes a day) that’s key to your progress.

CBT is a collaborative effort between me and you using structured sessions. I’m the expert in CBT, but you’re the expert in knowing your own thinking and experience. The result we’re working toward is that you’ll be trained to the point that you can essentially become your own therapist.

Deseree Maes