OLENA SOWERS

LPCC., MS., MA.

Welcome, I am glad that you landed on this page. Making the decision to find help is hard enough. I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and I’m here to walk beside you as you find your way to a better and more fulfilling life. My goal in counseling is to create a place where you feel safe enough to tell your story. Do you feel successful on the outside yet lost on the inside? Do you struggle with addiction or low self-worth? Did something bad happen to you and you can’t stop thinking about it? I am passionate about helping you achieve your goals towards a happier life by helping you identify and treat the source of your distress. I am passionate about helping my clients heal their core concerns, rather than focusing on treating the symptoms.

I have worked with a variety of client concerns, from anxiety, foster care and adoption, to addiction, family conflict, anger, and others. I specialize in trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and am trained in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), the number one treatment protocol for trauma and PTSD. I have worked with clients who survived physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect and many more. Let’s heal so we stop hurting and carrying our pain through life. Shame dies when your story is told in a safe place.

Specialities

• Trauma and PTSD
• Anxiety
• Foster care and adoption

When I first started out in the mental health field, I had a master’s in Forensic Psychology. I worked for a counseling agency, and I was eager to figure out why people do the things that they do. “Why do people commit crimes?” I wondered. To my surprise, the answers I found lead to me to being much disheartened with the reality: what I saw was trauma, basic needs not being met and generational issues. Over time, I decided that I wanted to do more and pursued my second master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. In 2018, I was trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Processing) for the treatment of trauma and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and have been using it ever since. EMDR is a powerful tool for the treatment of trauma and PTSD. If you have tried other treatments for trauma and PTSD and saw little improvements, EMDR may be for you.  I now work as a Licensed Professional Counselor with a variety of client concerns, specializing in trauma and PTSD. I have experience working with clients who survived childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect; military related trauma; sexual and physical assault survivors; domestic violence victims; motor vehicle accident victims, and others.

What Approaches/Modalities Inform My Work

I utilize EMDR for the treatment of trauma and PTSD, as well as psychodynamic, trauma focused, cognitive behavioral (CBT), person-centered, and eclectic approaches. I enjoy working with couples and families as well as with children, adolescents, and adults.

What Makes Me Unique

My goal as your counselor is to help you figure out and treat the root cause of your concerns. I believe that many diagnostic labels are only symptoms of a larger underlying cause, and if we can treat the underlying cause of your concerns, the symptoms also dissipate.  I can give you tools such as relaxation and breathing techniques, but often, these are what I would describe as Band-Aids that we put on a gaping wound. While they are still helpful, the underlying concern is present and untreated. I am passionate about helping my clients figure out and treat the root cause of their concerns.

I like to laugh and have fun with my clients, but we also talk about deep and difficult things.  Therapy is a process that requires collaboration between us and is time that is set aside specifically just for you.  I am here to walk beside you as you figure out your way to a better or more fulfilling life.

Additional Information

Please note additional fees will apply for any paperwork or court involvement such as Short-Term Disability, records or letters needed for legal matters, unemployment, etc. Please check Psychology Today for any updates regarding insurance, fees, practice location, and so on.

Temporary Circumstances

Listen in to Temporary Circumstances, a free resource on mental health, on this website or your favorite podcast platform. On the podcast, we discuss many matters mental health, focus on de-bunking myths and uncommon topics, and share education on mental health and wellness.

Temporary Circumstances podcast was inspired by my former mentor and boss, Bill Mason. Bill tragically passed away in 2019 but I was not ready to let go of the idea of doing a podcast on mental health. Towards the end of 2019, I started to put together the podcast that would become Temporary Circumstances. The name was inspired by the idea that helped me get through difficult times – the idea that everything in life is temporary, and this [pain] too, shall pass. Joined by my co-host, Cora Mayfield, we discuss many topics surrounding mental health on the podcast.

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Olena Sowers / Be Free Counseling LLC is pleased to provide you with social media content for your personal education and information purposes; however, nothing on these pages constitutes a recommendation for medical care, nor does Olena Sowers / Be Free Counseling LLC or other creators make a warranty of any kind in terms of the information’s appropriateness for individual online users. Nothing found on any of these social media pages is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric, or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Olena Sowers / Be Free Counseling LLC or other creators on these pages do not assume any responsibility or risk for your use of these social media pages including, but not limited to, content on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

Olena Sowers / Be Free Counseling LLC makes no representation and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained on or available through these websites and such information is subject to change without notice. You are encouraged to confirm any information obtained from or through my social media with other sources and review all information regarding any medical condition or treatment with your physician, licensed healthcare provider, or a licensed mental health practitioner.

Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have read about or accessed through this page or any social media pages.

Olena Sowers / Be Free Counseling LLC does not recommend, endorse or make any representation about the efficacy, appropriateness or suitability of any specific tests, products, treatments, services, options, health care providers or other information that may be contained on or available through this page or my social media pages.

Specialties

Trauma and PTSD
Anxiety
Foster care and adoption