Reno Counseling—Mental Health Services in Reno, NV

When Should Someone Talk to a Counselor? | Anxiety Therapy | Depression Therapy | Couples Counseling | Anger Counseling | Child Therapy | Psychiatry | Life Coaching | Do I Need Behavioral Health Services? | Why Should I Choose Thriveworks? | Schedule Counseling, Therapy, Life Coaching, or Psychiatry in Reno, NV

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Here at Thriveworks, we believe that everyone can find great benefits in working with a skilled, trusted mental health professional. This goes for individuals and families struggling to get along, someone who needs help coping with a mental illness, a couple who is trying to overcome a tough challenge, and more. 

If there is something causing you distress in any area of your life, working with a dedicated mental health professional might be the answer you’ve been looking for. 

Thriveworks Counseling in Reno, NV has a team of highly trained counselors, therapists, psychologists, and coaches who are readily available to help you manage your problems and find greater success in your life. They’re equipped with tools and knowledge that they will use to guide you in the right direction. 

If you are interested in working with one of our licensed providers, start now. Just give our office a call and one of our scheduling specialists will help you find an appointment time that works for you. 

When Should Someone Talk to a Counselor?

When you’re dealing with difficult emotions like anger, stress, or sadness, what do you do? Maybe you go for a run around your neighborhood. Perhaps you call a friend and meet for lunch. Or, you give yourself quiet time to participate in a stress-free activity like reading a book.

Sometimes when people have difficult emotions, they find it easier to just push them to the back of their mind and pretend like it’ll just go away on its own. Over time, not addressing these feelings can cause you to feel like you’re at your wit’s end. 

Everyone can benefit from talking to a mental health professional. At Thriveworks Counseling in Reno, we offer our clients a wide range of services, including but not limited to: 

1. Anxiety therapy
2. Depression therapy
3. Couples therapy and marriage counseling
4. Anger management counseling
5. Trauma therapy and PTSD counseling
6. Child therapy
7. Psychiatry
8. Life coaching

The above services can address common mental health issues. For example, couples therapy and marriage counseling can help you resolve and even prevent problems in your relationship. Life coaching, on the other hand, can help you set and achieve S.M.A.R.T. goals. 

We’re going to help you better understand if and when you might need or benefit from these mental health services.

Anxiety: Symptoms, Disorders, and Treatment

Anxiety is characterized by racing, out-of-control thoughts. For example:

• Is my flight going to be delayed? If it is (and I bet it will be), my holiday is ruined.
• My coworkers are probably judging me. I know I look like a mess today.
• Is my boss going to call me? What am I going to get yelled at for this time?
• I’m worried about Johnny. What if he’s getting bullied at school?
• My husband is unimpressed with me. I’m letting myself go. What if he leaves me?

As you can probably tell, these thoughts are not warranted. They reflect worst-case scenarios that the individual convinces themselves are real. The above are thoughts of someone with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), but GAD isn’t the only type of anxiety. 

Common Anxiety Disorders

In addition to GAD, common anxiety disorders include obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder:

1. OCD: OCD centers around unreasonable thoughts and obsessions, which cause one to engage in compulsive behaviors. Symptoms include hypervigilance, impulsivity, repetitive movements and rituals.
2. PTSD: PTSD can develop after one experiences a traumatizing event like physical or mental abuse, a natural disaster, or another threat to their life. Symptoms include flashbacks to the distressing experience, irritability, social isolation, and unwanted thoughts.
3. Panic disorder: Panic disorder is another form of anxiety that is characterized by panic attacks. Panic attacks are commonly mistaken for heart attacks and come with a fast heartbeat. Those who have panic attacks may also feel like they are losing control.
4. Social anxiety disorder: Social anxiety or social phobia is experienced in social settings. Those who suffer with social anxiety disorder feel uncomfortable and irrationally anxious or fearful in everyday social interactions. 

Therapy for Anxiety

If you are presenting symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder or one of the other anxiety disorders listed above, it’s important that you receive the right treatment. Fortunately, therapy for anxiety at Thriveworks in Reno proves effective in helping one manage their symptoms, identify potential causes of their anxiety, and get their disorder under control. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one type of therapy that is often used to reduce and even eliminate one’s anxiety. This focuses on understanding and changing harmful thought patterns. Exposure therapy can also be helpful, specifically with clients who suffer from specific phobias like social phobia. 

Depression: Am I Depressed?

Depression isn’t just feeling down or sad. This is a serious mood disorder that’s characterized by a deep despair and loss of interest in daily activities. Other common, harmful symptoms include:

• Lack of motivation
• General dissatisfaction with life
• Irritability or mood swings
• Social isolation and withdrawal from others
• Excessive sleepiness or insomnia/hypersomnia
• Changes in appetite and weight
• Feelings of restlessness
• Thoughts of self-harm or suicide

The depression that many people immediately think of is major depressive disorder (MDD). There are other types of depression though, too. 

Types of Depression

In addition to major depression, common types of depression include minor depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), persistent depressive disorder (PDD), and bipolar disorder:

1. Minor depression: Minor depression comes with the symptoms listed above. The major difference, though, between major and minor depression are the number and duration of symptoms. With minor depression, only two depressive symptoms need to be present and for a minimum of two weeks.
2. SAD: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is characterized by that deep despair, which sets in during cold months. It is believed that SAD is caused by a change in the body’s normal circadian rhythm. 
3. PDD: PDD, also known as dysthymia, is a long-lasting depression. Those with PDD feel depressed the majority of days for two years or longer. Symptoms aren’t typically as severe as major depression, but they are still harmful.
4. Bipolar disorder: Bipolar disorder is another form of depression that is characterized by depressed states and manic states. The individual goes back and forth between the two extremes.

Treatment: Depression Therapy and Medication

If you are feeling depressed and experiencing any number of depression symptoms, it’s important for you to talk to a mental health professional. Depression therapy at Thriveworks in Reno, NV can help you better manage your symptoms and get to the bottom of the psychological, social, and environmental factors that may have contributed to its development.

Psychiatrists at Thriveworks in Reno can also help. They can prescribe medications for depression, which is another effective form of treatment. Antidepressants alleviate one’s symptoms and are often paired with therapy to best help the individual manage or overcome their depressive disorder.

Relationship Counseling: Marriage and Couples Therapy

Relationships aren’t easy. And they aren’t supposed to be. The romantic relationships we build and foster with our partners are bound to come with challenges. Fortunately, working through these challenges together comes with rewards like greater intimacy and a stronger connection. 

That’s not to say that working through these challenges is always easy. In fact, sometimes there are serious problems that arise that we need a little help working through. This is when relationship counseling, such as marriage counseling or couples therapy, can come in handy.

Common Relationship Problems 

Every relationship is unique, but there are common relationship problems that arise, and we can benefit from talking through them with an unbiased third party. For example:

• Jealousy or trust issues
• Infidelity
• Lack of intimacy
• Parenting disagreements
• Poor communication or lack thereof
• Different visions for the future
• Commitment issues

These problems can prove stubborn, but we can work through properly with a couples therapist or marriage counselor.

How Can Relationship Counselors Help? 

The Couples therapists and marriage counselors at Thriveworks in Reno have training and experience in helping couples work through their relationship problems and building overall happier, stronger relationships. They guide respectful, patient conversations, encourage their clients to talk openly and honestly with one another, and offer effective strategies for resolving a given issue.

While couples therapy and marriage counseling is designed with a specific couple in mind, it often involves improving the couples’ communication, identifying weak areas of the relationship, and strengthening the connection between partners.

Anger Counseling: Managing Out-of-Control Anger

Anger is a natural emotion. However, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to express our anger. Unhealthy expressions of anger look like…

• Throwing objects
• Yelling at another person
• Acting violently toward another person
• Causing destruction
• Engaging in other hostile or aggressive behavior

If you engage in any of the above when you’re feeling angry, you can benefit from anger counseling, which helps one get their anger under control and express it in a healthier way.

Cognitive and Emotional Signs of Anger 

Learning to manage your anger will require you to become better attuned to signs and triggers of anger. Consult the following cognitive and emotional signs of anger:

Cognitive Signs of Anger 

• Feeling mentally exhausted
• Experiencing aggressive thoughts
• Thinking about revenge
• Blacking out
• Struggling to focus

Emotional Signs of Anger

• Feeling embarrassed or humiliated
• Feeling scared or fearful
• Feeling disrespected
• Feeling anxious and/or nervous
• Crying excessively

Make a conscious effort to notice your mental and emotional signs of anger. This will allow you to prepare for your anger and respond appropriately to this emotion.

How Does Anger Counseling Work?

An anger counselor at Thriveworks in Reno, NV can help you identify those mental and emotional signs of anger we outlined above. They can also…

1. Help you better understand what triggers your angry outbursts
2. Offer tips for calming down when you feel angry like deep-breathing
3. Identify self-care techniques that can help you control and limit your anger
4. Help you identify what makes you happy and experience other positive emotions

Our anger counselors will design this treatment with your specific needs in mind.

Trauma and PTSD: Causes and Treatment

Traumatic events are traumatizing experiences that cause distress in the short or long term. These traumatic life events include:

• Natural disasters
• Mental and physical abuse
• Terror attacks
• Assault
• Combat
• Other life-threatening situations

When these experiences are not addressed properly, one might develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Symptoms of PTSD

We may not fully realize or understand the impact that a traumatic event can have on us until we begin to develop symptoms of PTSD, like:

• Nightmares and other sleep disturbances
• Flashbacks to the trauma
• Social isolation and withdrawal
• Depressive and anxious thoughts
• Anger and irritability

These symptoms are harmful and can make one’s day to day extremely unpleasant. It’s important to address and manage one’s PTSD so that it does not trigger the development of other mental health conditions like depression. 

Trauma Therapy

The trauma therapists and PTSD counselors at Thriveworks in Reno, NV can offer support to their clients who have had traumatic experiences. They will lead tough yet rewarding conversations about what happened to them and how it has affected them. They can also offer coping techniques for better managing the difficult emotions and harmful symptoms that accompany their PTSD.

Medication can also help people who are experiencing negative consequences from traumatic events. Antidepressants are most commonly used to alleviate one’s PTSD symptoms. The psychiatrists at Thriveworks in Reno, NV will assess your specific needs and goals before prescribing any medication.

Therapy for Kids

Kids, adolescents, and teenagers have mental health problems just like adults. Sometimes, they even suffer from the same issues like stress or overwhelming emotions. And often, they don’t want to talk to their parents or other family members about what they’re going through. Here are a few challenges that are commonly experienced by these young individuals, which negatively affect their wellbeing:

1. The loss of a loved one: The death of a friend or family member can hit kids the hardest. These young individuals don’t yet have adequate coping mechanisms for grieving the loss of a loved one properly. Not to mention that often, us adults struggle to grieve the loss of a loved one properly, too. Death is never easy, and often we need guidance and support throughout the grieving process.
2. Divorce and separation: Another particularly challenging problem is the divorce or separation of a child’s parents. This separation can bring on many difficult emotions and also necessitate tough transitions in one’s life. A child therapist or psychologist can talk to their young clients about how their parents’ divorce makes them feel and disrupts life as they know it.
3. Major life transitions: Major life transitions can also disturb a child’s mental and emotional wellbeing. For example, moving to a new town and going to a new school can prove difficult, as they are forced to leave their friends and everything they know behind to start anew. A therapist can help them process these changes and feel more confident in beginning this new chapter.

Signs That My Child Is Struggling 

As we mentioned before, kids and teens are often hesitant to talk to their parents or other family members when they are struggling mentally or emotionally. Often, though, they are willing to talk to a third party about what’s going on, even if it takes them a session or two to open up.

The first step in getting your child the mental health help that they need is recognizing that they might be struggling. Here are a few red flags that something might be up:

• Rebellious behavior
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Changes in appetite or weight
• Lack of interest in going to school
• Marked desire not to go to school
• Isolation from others
• Irritability and mood swings

If you observe the above in your child, you should consider setting them up with a child therapy or teen counseling appointment. Our therapists and psychologists would be happy to talk to them and offer guidance and support as needed.

Psychiatry: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Mental Illness

Psychiatry is a field of medicine that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental health conditions. Psychiatrists, then, are medical doctors who specialize in psychiatry. These professionals are qualified to assess and diagnose mental illnesses, offer a plan of treatment, and also provide preventative measures to their clients. 

Assessment and Diagnosis

The psychiatrists at Thriveworks Counseling in Reno, NV assess their clients who present symptoms of a mental health condition. They often use self-report to understand what a client is experiencing but are also able to conduct psychological testing to make a diagnosis. Common mental health conditions diagnosed by psychiatrists include:

• Major and minor depression
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Social anxiety disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Addiction and substance abuse disorder

Psychiatrists will assess their clients’ symptoms, conduct psychological tests as needed, make a proper diagnosis (when applicable), and then move forward with treatment.

Psychiatry Treatment

Psychiatrists can design a treatment plan for their clients after they have assessed and diagnosed their condition. They will take different factors into consideration, including one’s specific symptoms and needs, in coming up with their treatment recommendation. However, therapy and medication are the most common and effective forms of treatment for mental health conditions.

Therapy can help one manage their condition in the long-term. Psychiatrists can lead psychotherapy themselves or refer their clients to another mental health professional like a licensed counselor or psychologist. Regardless, therapy will involve talking about one’s thoughts, emotions, experiences, and behaviors. Their provider will help them correct any unhelpful habits, identify problem areas, and adapt healthy coping mechanisms.

Medication is another common form of treatment for mental illness and other disturbances. Unlike other mental health professionals, psychiatrists can prescribe medication and offer medication management. This is typically a short-term treatment, which is meant to alleviate one’s symptoms. But the individual must meet with their psychiatrist on a regular basis to talk about one’s medication and how it is affecting them as well as to ensure that they are taking it properly. Often, medication is paired with counseling, which is a winning combination for many individuals. 

Preventative Measures

Psychiatrists serve a third main function which is to prevent the development or the worsening of mental health problems. Therapy and medication can help with this. In therapy, the psychiatrist can offer helpful coping mechanisms, self-care tips, and additional help. They might advise their client to:

• Engage in stress-relief activities like journaling
• Talk to their partner or family member about a given problem
• Set and work toward new goals
• Make time to relax and decompress

The above can help one take care of their mental health in the short and long-term. The psychiatrists at Thriveworks Counseling in Reno, NV are after one main important mission: to help their clients live happier, healthier, and more successful lives.

Life Coaching: Goal-Setting Help

Maybe you aren’t struggling with mental illness or another serious mental health problem, but your life satisfaction and success are suffering instead. In these instances, you can likely benefit from working with a life coach as opposed to a counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist.

Life coaches aim to help their clients set and achieve goals that help them improve life satisfaction and success. Technically, anyone can call themselves a life coach, but at Thriveworks Counseling in Reno, NV, our coaches are licensed mental health professionals. This means that you can rely on their expertise to guide you and help you accomplish more.

Should I Work with a Life Coach? 

If you feel like you’re lacking happiness, success, or fulfillment in life, you should consider working with a life coach. Here are a few people who have found benefit in doing so:

• A new mom who is feeling bored and struggling to feel personally fulfilled
• Someone who keeps putting their goals on the backburner
• A recently unemployed individual who doesn’t know what’s next
• Someone who is struggling to feel accomplished or successful
• An individual who feels like something is missing and wants more out of life

The truth is that we can all benefit from talking to a life coach. These mental health professionals can point us in the right direction in terms of feeling professionally and personally fulfilled. If you’d like to accomplish more at work or in your personal life, a life coach is the person to talk to.

How Do Life Coaches Differ from Therapists or Counselors?

While life coaches do share some roles with therapists and counselors, they also offer unique services. For example, life coaches can help one address certain problems that are holding them back, but they don’t treat mental illnesses. 

Remember: Life coaches are not required to possess formal qualifications or training. However, the life coaches at Thriveworks are also licensed mental health professionals. This means that they have a bigger breadth of skills and experience related to one’s mental health and wellbeing.

If you’re looking for some general guidance and support in life as you search for greater success, meaning, or fulfillment—personally and/or professionally—the life coaches at Thriveworks in Reno, NV would love to work with you.

Do I Need Behavioral Health Services?

Maybe you feel down or “off” and don’t know why. Or, maybe you and your partner are fighting because of deep-rooted problems that you aren’t completely aware of. Even if you aren’t sure why you’re feeling the way you do, the counselors, therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists here at Thriveworks in Reno, NV can help you pinpoint what’s going on and provide you with much-needed relief. 

The common reasons why clients come to us are: 

• Stress, at home or at work 
• Relationship issues, like jealousy or poor communication
• Lack of satisfaction in life 
• Low self-esteem
• Mental illnesses, like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder 
• Behavioral problems in children 
• Past trauma 
• Difficulties finding career satisfaction 
• Anger issues

These issues can be challenging to handle on your own. Luckily, you don’t have to. Thriveworks Counseling in Reno is here to support and guide you every step of the way. Allow us to assess your problem, help you understand it, and offer a path forward. 

We can help you determine whether you should work with a counselor, life coach, psychologist, or psychiatrist. And then we can set you up with the provider who has the specific skills, training, and experience to help you with your presenting problem.

Why Should I Choose Thriveworks?

Have you ever tried finding a counselor that you were excited to work with, just to call and find out they’re not available? We understand how frustrating it can be to want mental health help but struggle to find a mental health professional with availability. At our office, you don’t have to worry about that.

Our clients choose to work with us because of our excellent team of counselors, therapists, psychologists, life coaches, and psychiatrists, as well as our exceptional support team. When you choose to work with us, you can experience all of our competitive benefits, including: 

• Same- and next-day appointments: We strive to get new clients in front of their providers within 24-48 hours
• No waitlist: We won’t put you on a waitlist. Instead, we’ll find a provider who has the soonest availability or refer you to another Thriveworks counseling office nearby.
• Extended evening and weekend appointment hours: We understand that daytime sessions don’t work for every individual and family. That’s why we offer evening and weekend sessions, too.
• Online counseling options: Online therapy is a viable, valuable way to receive mental health help. You can work with your therapist or psychiatrist in telephone or video sessions.
• Text support via our success navigator: We’ll text you to ensure that you are having a positive experience with your Thriveworks provider.
• Affordability: Our providers accept most major insurance plans and also have affordable self-pay rates for those paying out-of-pocket.
• And more! 

We offer other premium counseling benefits at Thriveworks, too. To experience them for yourself, call our office and schedule your appointment. 

Schedule Counseling, Therapy, Life Coaching, or Psychiatry in Reno, NV

We pride ourselves on our mission, which is to help people (like you) live happy, successful lives. Our mental health professionals will teach you how to set and achieve your goals, work through challenging relationships and life issues, manage mental illnesses, pursue inner strength, achieve personal growth, and more. 

If you’re looking for counseling services in Northern Nevada, let’s get in touch. To get started, just give our office a call. One of our scheduling specialists will help you find an appointment time that suits your schedule. 

You deserve to live a happy life. If you’re ready to start making meaningful progress, we’re here and ready to help.