The Schuller Counseling Therapy Blog
I am a former teacher and school counselor turned therapist. My career began in addictions treatment with opioid addicts at a methadone clinic and then at a treatment center for substance abuse. I now work with adults in my Dallas office and virtually from anywhere in Texas.
I work with emerging adults on life, addicts, family members of addicts, betrayed partners, people with mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. While my focus is on trauma and addictions, I have a well-rounded background and am equipped to treat a host of issues and mental health conditions.
I take a holistic approach to treatment and use both cognitive and somatic therapies to ensure we are hitting things from every angle. We need to use talk therapy to understand our stories and know how to make positive changes and somatic therapy to address root causes by healing trauma stored in the body.
I am a certified Brainspotting therapist, trained under Dr. Pie Frey, the “grandmother of Brainspotting”. Brainspotting is a somatic modality used to treat underlying trauma by accessing and processing information in the subcortical brain.
I treat both chemical and process addictions, including porn and sex addiction. I am presently an ASAT-Candidate working toward CSAT licensure and use Patrick Carnes’ 30 Task Model to treat sex addiction.
Using 12 Step terminology, an addict is “powerless” over their substance use (or compulsive behavior), and their life has become “unmanageable” as a result. Addicts go back to the same substances and behaviors over and over again despite the consequences and end up harming themselves and others.
Addicts use substances and behaviors to change the way they feel. They may be self-medicating a mental illness, trying to cope with unresolved trauma, or attempting to escape an intolerable reality.
Addiction is a progressive illness. An addict is either actively in recovery, working toward healing and sustained sobriety, or they are actively in addiction and getting worse.
Addicts experience overwhelming cravings and urges they cannot resist (for long). While they may abstain temporarily, they will always return to the addictive substance or behavior eventually if they do not get appropriate help.
Addicts experience tolerance, where they must increase the frequency or intensity of substances/behaviors because what once made them “high” no longer works. Addicts also experience withdrawal, where sudden discontinuation of the substance or behavior results in symptoms like restlessness, irritability, mood swings, sleep problems, etc.
Addiction is very treatable with proper therapy and participation in a 12 step program. Treatment needs to help addicts address and heal the underlying trauma, learn healthy coping skills and new ways of thinking, and create community and a new life in sobriety.
Sex addicts are addicted to sexual acting out behaviors similarly to how an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol. Sex addicts have lost control of their behavior and are acting in ways that are harmful to self and others and cannot stop (or can’t stay stopped) despite their best efforts to do so.
Sex addicts are not just people who feel bad about their behavior because someone in their life or society at large shamed them. They are not just people who enjoy sex or identify as having a high sex drive. They are not just people who have a lot of sex, have many sexual partners, or engage in a wide variety of sexual behaviors. None of these things are what make someone a sex addict.
Sex addicts use sexual acting out behaviors to change the way they feel and avoid or escape an intolerable reality. They are self-medicating with these behaviors, sometimes using them to manage mental disorders like anxiety or depression, to deal with stress, or to manage unhealed trauma. This is a maladaptive coping skill that has serious negative consequences for the addict and others.
Sexual acting out behaviors may include porn use, excessive masturbation, using prostitutes, having affairs, being extremely promiscuous, having anonymous sex, engaging in voyeurism or exhibitionism, and many other behaviors.
Sex addiction impairs one’s ability to function in society and negatively impacts relationships, finances, work, and ability to maintain and carry out responsibilities.
Sex addicts experience obsessive thoughts, craving, tolerance, and withdrawal the same way a drug addict or alcoholic would.
Sex addiction is an intimacy disorder. Sex addicts have a warped sense of healthy intimacy and do not know how to be appropriately vulnerable and have genuine connection with others with safe and healthy boundaries.
Brainspotting is a type of therapy that is used to treat trauma and also enhance performance. It is one of the fastest and most effective ways to heal trauma and often works when other approaches have failed.
Brainspotting is a great option for people with complex PTSD or who dissociate. It is a very gentle therapy that allows for a safe and effective way to work through the most painful and activating memories.
Brainspotting is very safe and can be used to treat trauma, stress, anxiety, and anything that is emotionally disturbing. It can also be used to enhance performance in personal, professional, and athletic endeavors.
Brainspotting works by identifying and using a significant eye position associated with the target issue that allows one to tap into their subcortical brain and process issues held deeply in the subconscious and body.
Brainspotting is a somatic modality, meaning it works through the body to process, heal, and release trauma stored in the body. While people are Brainpotting, they may experience physical sensations through the body as they process the target issue.
Brainspotting relies on the brain and body’s innate ability to heal itself. The therapist’s attuned presence creates a safe space that allows for deep processing and facilitates healing. The therapist is not controlling or directing the process, but following the client wherever they go.