Services

I have been a Clinical Social Worker since 1984 after receiving my master's degree from the University of South Carolina. I began my private practice in 1991 as Carelink, Inc. I am certified as a Clinical Social Worker and a Substance Abuse Counselor (SAP). I am one of the few certified eating disorders specialists in Western North Carolina that specializes in anorexia and bulimia. I incorporate neurofeedback into the treatment of eating disorders based on current brain research.

I also use a variety of techniques including cognitive behavioral therapy, neurofeedback (EEG) and EMDR.

Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback is a therapy that can help to self-regulate the brain in conditions such as chronic pain syndromes, disruptive and disturbing behaviors, depression, anxiety, drug or alcohol use/abuse, eating disorders, and traumatic brain injury. The patients that have eating disorders have had good success with this program.

Click for more information about neurofeedback therapy in Asheville, NC.

Additional Information from the Brian Othmer Foundation: EEG Info

Videos: What is Neurofeedback?  neurofeedback therapy asheville nc

Migraines, Tension Headaches and Cluster Headaches
These headaches are usually treated using neurofeedback. The pain ranges from mild to severe and can last days with these headaches. It is often a dilation and constriction of the brain's vessels which causes the migraine. Neurofeedback relieves the pain and tension from the headache. Read here about migraine treatments and neurofeedback therapy in Asheville, NC. 

More Information: EEG Info

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
An anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat. People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to. They may experience sleep problems, feel detached or numb, or be easily startled. Read here to learn more about Post-Tramatic Stress Disorder treatment in Asheville, NC.

View More: What is PTSD?

Videos: EEG Info and PTSD eeg-ptsd and pain therapies asheville nc

EMDR
An eye movement desensitization and reprocessing that helps to reformulate negative feelings into more positive thoughts. 

View More: What is EMDR?

Videos: EMDR Explanations  EMDR eye movement desensitization Neurofeedback Asheville 

Eating Disorders
An eating disorder is marked by extremes. It is present when a person experiences severe disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme reduction of food intake or extreme overeating, or feelings of extreme distress or concern about body weight or shape. A person with an eating disorder may have started out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food than usual, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more spirals out of control. Eating disorders are very complex, and despite scientific research to understand them, the biological, behavioral and social underpinnings of these illnesses remain elusive.

View More: National Eating Disorder Association
Something Fishy
American Dietetic Association
Eating Disorder Hope

Substance Abuse Issues
I am a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP). Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts. The terms have a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect.  

View More: National Institute on Drug Abuse

Chronic Pain
Pain that has not gone away or recurs frequently even after six months have passed. Chronic pain affects people of all ages, races, and occupations. Severe chronic pain is a devastating health problem that affects as many as one in ten Americans (more than 25 million people).

View More: National Chronic Pain Association

Depression
May be described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods. True clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or longer.

View More: Types of Depression

Video: Types of DepressionDepression eating disorders anorexia bulimia treatment Asheville nc

Trauma
Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and alone can be traumatic, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective facts that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized.

View More: Trauma

Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It helps one deal with a tense situation in the office, study harder for an exam, keep focused on an important speech. In general, it helps one cope. But when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it has become a disabling disorder.

View More: Anxiety Disorders

Affective Disorder
A combination of anxiety and depression. It is characterized by dramatic changes or extremes of mood. Affective disorders may include manic (elevated, expansive, or irritable mood with hyperactivity, pressured speech, and inflated self-esteem) or depressive (dejected mood with disinterest in life, sleep disturbance, agitation, and feelings of worthlessness or guilt) episodes, and often combinations of the two. Persons with an affective disorder may or may not have psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, or other loss of contact with reality.

View More: Bipolar Affective Disorder
Seasonal Affective Disorder