About Christina Mitcham LCSW

Q: What do you really want from counseling? Honestly, don't you just want to ease your pain, stop the suffering, end your struggles, and arrive somewhere better? You don't have to love therapy to want relief. If you're struggling with depression, anxiety, having relationship challenges, or find yourself in a crisis, then maybe we should give this a try.  Therapy at Breakthrough Counseling can not only provide support and offer emotional release, but also it may  allow you to feel "seen" and reclaim your life.  

 Q: What will we talk about? In therapy, we start by identifying the core problem, often beginning with your symptoms. The process can be messy and challenging, involving emotional expression, problem solving, and learning new ways of thinking and behaving.

 Together we can create a new narrative that reflects your healing and growth. Therapy requires a certain amount of trust, courage, and persistence, but in the end, you'll gain confidence, resilience, and the freedom to build a fulfilling life. 

Q: Shouldn't I know about your training? Of course! Sometimes it just inspires confidence, so here goes... I operate with a Michigan state license in Clinical Social Work. I've been practicing since 2003 in a variety of settings including psychiatric hospitals, and community mental health. I started learning the ropes in private practice in 2014 and have been owner and operator of Breakthrough Counseling since 2017. I've been working hard to keep up with best practices and the latest training in mood disorders and trauma care. 

As a level 2 certified clinical trauma therapist, I use both body based and cognitive approaches to healing. Body awareness, grounding, pendulation, titration, sequencing, and resourcing are among the techniques that we can explore in somatic experiencing. Breath work and mindfulness are skills we can work to develop as well as skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. I am DBT certified and work to find the balance between release, coaching, and therapeutic connection. If this sounds like gibberish to you, most of all I just want you to know that I am committed to best practices and personal growth.

A study in the Journal of Counseling and Psychology found that most people feel better within 7-10 visits. In a different study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, they found that 88% of people who experienced therapy reported improvements after just one session. Isn't that amazing? Whether you benefit from 1 or 100 sessions, what do you have to lose? I would love to meet you so we can find out what it will take so that you can feel better and begin to live the life you want. 

If you're eating or sleeping more than usual, withdrawing from family or friends, or just feeling "off", counseling can help. Other reasons you might consider Breakthrough Counseling could be that you are using alcohol, drugs, food, or sex to cope; feeling like your emotions are out of control, you've lost someone or something important to you, something traumatic happened, or you just cant do the things you like.