Taking The
Steps Forward
Towards
Support and Changes
I offer mental health counseling services to individuals ages 3 and up. I am affiliated with the mental health therapists at Halcyon Wellness LLC in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
Starting on a journey for yourself, your child, or your family is a courageous and transformative decision. I understand that seeking support is not only about addressing immediate challenges, but also about creating lasting positive changes in life.
The Importance of Support
Support provides a foundation of safety and understanding, allowing you to explore thoughts and emotions without judgment. It empowers you to gain insight, develop coping strategies, and build resilience. Whether you are facing anxiety, depression, trauma, behavioral problems, relationship difficulties, parenting struggles, or life transitions, I am here to help you through the process.
Embracing Change
Change can bring a wide range of strong emotions, but it's essential for growth. With the right tools and guidance, you can gain new perspectives and behaviors that align with your goals and values. Change is about taking small baby steps, a process that involves patience, commitment, and self-compassion.
Your Path Forward
I am dedicated to partnering with you every step of the way. Together, we can develop a personalized plan tailored to your unique needs.
Taking that first step may feel like a huge leap, but it's the beginning of a brighter, more fulfilling future. Reach out today, and let's move forward…one step at a time, together.
Treatment Approaches :
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - CBT is the main treatment modality I use in sessions. It is an evidence-based treatment used to assist individuals in understanding and reframing their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors for lasting positive change.
Play Therapy - Play is an essential part of every child’s life. Play therapy uses play as a natural and effective means for children to communicate and express their thoughts and feelings. Through play therapy, children are provided with a safe and supportive environment where their emotions can emerge naturally, allowing for better understanding and processing by both the child and the therapist.
Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) - Anxiety in children is becoming more common than it used to be. SPACE is a parent-based treatment program for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, separation anxiety, and related disorders focuses on empowering parents with the tools and strategies necessary to support their child's emotional well-being. SPACE involves educating parents about their child's anxiety, teaching effective behavioral techniques, and fostering skills to manage anxiety-provoking situations at home and in the community.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) - I am EMDRIA trained in EMDR. EMDR is an eight-phase psychotherapy approach that I use with children, adolescents, and adults. It involves recalling a distressing memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation to enhance the brain’s processing of the memory.
Unified Protocols (UP) - UP is a cognitive-behavioral therapy approach that does not treat each disorder separately but instead targets common underlying factors and aims to promote healthier emotional coping and management. I use this approach to help individuals develop more flexible thinking, increase emotional awareness, and build effective strategies to regulate emotions, leading to improved overall mental health and well-being.
Parent Management Training (PMT) - Working with parents is one of my favorite aspects of my work. Being a parent is one of the toughest jobs, and there are so many parenting manuals out there. How do you know which one is the best? PMT provides parents with practical skills to effectively manage and reduce challenging behaviors in children of all ages. It emphasizes the use of positive reinforcement to ensure desirable behaviors are encouraged and strengthened.
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) - TF-CBT is designed for children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events. It focuses on the creation of a trauma story to address the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive impacts of trauma in a structured and supportive way.
Safe and Sound Protocol Therapy (SSP) - I am trained in SSP to help individuals with a history of trauma continue their healing journey. SSP is designed to support the regulation of the autonomic nervous system by using specially filtered music.
Counseling Services
Mental Health Counseling
I have been a licensed professional counselor (LPC) since 2011 and work with clients ages three and up. Over the years, my work has taken me through a variety of settings, including private practice, psychiatric hospitals, medical clinics, and day treatment programs. Each experience has shaped my approach and deepened my commitment to providing thoughtful, compassionate care.
After Prevea Health exited western Wisconsin, I chose to return to private practice. During that transition, I spent a brief but meaningful period with Halcyon Wellness, LLC while finding my footing. This journey ultimately led to the creation of Steps Forward Counseling.
Opening Steps Forward Counseling has been the fulfillment of a long-standing dream, especially the opportunity to create a dedicated play therapy space. I am now able to offer a welcoming environment where adults, adolescents, children, and families can engage in meaningful, effective therapy and take steps forward toward healing and growth. I work with adults and children navigating anxiety, depression, and past traumatic experiences.
“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety”
I specialize in working with adults and children navigating anxiety, depression, and past traumatic experiences. I am also passionate about helping parents learn supportive strategies that reduce challenging behaviors and foster healthy emotional development in children.
I accept a wide range of insurance plans, such as Security Health Plan, United Healthcare, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Group Health Cooperative, WPS, Multiplan, BPA, Prevea360, Medicaid, ForwardHealth, BadgerCare, and various Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs).
Safe and Sound Protocol
Think, feel, and connect better through nervous system regulation
Five hours of music. Long-lasting impact.
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a powerful listening therapy designed to help regulate the nervous system, so you can better connect with yourself, others and the world around you.
Humans need social connection.
Subconsciously, your nervous system is always looking for cues of safety from other people through things like body language, facial expression or tone of voice.
But if you have a harder time interpreting these cues of safety due to past experiences or the way you take in information, your brain and body can misinterpret these cues, limiting your ability to connect in a meaningful way.
How does the SSP work?
Through the specially filtered music, the SSP sends cues of safety to your nervous system, building the foundation for awareness, embodiment and resilience.
Do I have to listen to the hours in order?
The music is divided into five hour-long sections. While you are not required to listen to a full hour each session, the filtration of the main SSP program is dynamic and progressive so it is important to listen in order and not repeat any sections without guidance from your SSP provider.
What to expect from your experience
Your Role
As the listener, all that is required of you during a session is to simply listen to the music and to let your provider know of feelings or sensations, whether emotional or physical, that may arise.
Your provider may also have you engage in light activity during your listening sessions, such as stretches, breathing exercises, or drawing. Be sure to stay in close communication with your provider, so they can adjust your listening plan to suit your needs.
Your Provider’s Role
Your certified provider will be your guide along your SSP journey. They are trained to make sure that you are ready even before you start listening to the music, and will recommend an individualized listening plan for you. They will provide education, answer all your questions and prepare you for all that you may experience once you begin.
During the listening, they will monitor your progress and make sure you are not completing the program too quickly or too slowly. They will support and work with you to find the right pace and conditions for the optimal listening experience for you.
If you are a parent or caregiver, you may be the primary listening partner for your child. Follow your provider’s instructions for what activities to do and how to guide your child.
Improved response to stress
When our nervous system is regulated, it’s easier to sleep, eat, digest, concentrate, communicate, and participate in meaningful relationships with others. We can better respond to difficult situations and move past them instead of reacting and getting “stuck” in them.
Better emotional regulation and resilience
Become attuned to and more in control of emotions, so you can move through temporary setbacks with more flexibility and ease.
More social connection and deeper relationships
By activating the part of your brain that allows us to be more social, affectionate and connected, the SSP can help shift you into a state where you are more comfortable and at ease engaging with others, leading to deeper and more meaningful relationships.
For information about delivery, pricing, or to schedule an SSP evaluation, please contact Courtney Hovland, LPC at (715) 204-4280 or courtney@stepsforwardcounseling.com