Jim Ciraky | Advent Help

Services

Appointments for Counseling Services are as individual and varied as the people who participate in them. Therefore, we have a variety of therapy options and session lengths available:

Individual Counseling

man receiving individual counseling from a therapist | Advent Counseling | Family, Couples, & Individual Therapy | Woodstock, GA

Individual Counseling may focus on any number of issues and provides a safe environment to work through life’s challenges. We have worked with individuals for over 20 years in areas such as depression help, anxiety help, broken relationships, ADHD, parenting, managing wayward children (including adult children), and many others.

Individual Counseling is focused on the individual’s immediate or near future concerns. It may encompass career, goal setting, planning, grief after a loved one dies or dealing with problems at a job before they become insurmountable. Individual counseling is a one-on-one discussion between the counselor and the client. The two form an alliance or professional relationship that enables trust and personal growth.

Couples Counseling

Couples Counseling | Advent Counseling | Family, Couples, & Individual Therapy | Woodstock, GA

Couples Counseling can be done with both parties together in the session or separately with each party coming at a separate time. Very often a combination of both is used throughout the therapy period to provide a safe environment for the couple to share and resolve the challenges being faced. Common themes are communication, sex, conflict resolution, and parenting. The assumption here is that both parties want to maintain and work on the relationship. On some occasions, we work with couples who want to amicably divorce and learn better, objective ways to communicate, especially when children are involved.

Family Counseling

family counseling | Advent Counseling | Family, Couples, & Individual Therapy | Woodstock, GA

Family Counseling is geared towards resolution of issues affecting two or more members of the family unit. Some common issues include the death of a family member, adultery, divorce, and rebellion. Ideally, our families are those whom we can always rely on for support, from whom we draw strength and support, for whom we feel love and concern, and with whom we feel close and comfortable, openly sharing thoughts and feelings.

Few families meet this expectation 100% of the time, and in some cases, a person’s family is far from ideal, associated instead with stress, misunderstanding, anger, disconnection, and unmet needs. From our family of origin, we develop such posturing as our expectations of others, communication skills, outlook on life, ability to give and receive love, coping skills, spiritual understanding, and a myriad of other traits that may have lifelong effects. Counseling seeks to enhance healthy actions/reactions and stifle unhealthy ones.

Adolescent / Teen Counseling

Adolescent / Teen Counseling is another one of our specialties. Common issues in this arena include depression help, anxiety help, anger, rebellion, school performance, motivation, and substance abuse help. I (Jim) began my career specializing with teens and still enjoy the unique disposition each teen brings to the session with hopes to assist him  or her on a healthier, more functional journey.

Children's Counseling

Counseling for children | Advent Counseling | Family, Couples, & Individual Therapy | Woodstock, GA

Children's Counseling targets key issues facing children ages 9 through 12 years old. To bring resolution a different approach is often needed with children than what is needed for teens and adults. In our Children’s Counseling sessions, we do what is needed to set kids at ease including playing board games if needed while engaging in the conversation to reveal and resolve the core issues each child is facing. Often a safe and objective environment is helpful to the child to clarify, express, and resolve or manage thoughts and feelings in a healthier way.

Seminars & Workshops

Sharing thoughts, feelings, and ideas with others who are experiencing similar struggles can be beneficial. Workshops offer groups the opportunity to discuss what is and isn’t working within their unit and helps redirect focus from self to others as people try to encourage others in their group. This is a big part of the growth process and we highly recommend attending seminars in areas where growth is needed or desired.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) is a specific, (individual or small group) supportive crisis intervention process. It is just one of the many crisis intervention techniques which are included under the umbrella of a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) program. The CISD process does not constitute any form of psychotherapy and it should never be utilized as a substitute for psychotherapy. It is simply a supportive, crisis-focused discussion of a traumatic event (which is frequently called a “critical incident”). The Critical Incident Stress Debriefing was developed exclusively for small, homogeneous groups who have encountered a powerful traumatic event. It aims at reduction of distress and a restoration of group cohesion and unit performance. A more recent term used for similar interventions is called Disruptive Event Management (DEM).