Living Free Therapy
ALLISON MCDONALD, LMFT
SERVICES OFFERED
WHAT ALL DOES ALLISON TREAT?
Allison treats depression; anxiety; self-hate; PTSD; C-PTSD; addictive behaviors; addiction relapse prevention; process addictions, such as self-harm, disordered eating, and or trauma bonding; relationship conflict; relationship struggles; domestic violence victims; unresolved childhood trauma; attachment trauma; combat or first responder trauma; and many more alike.
Traditional Talk Therapy
Traditional talk therapy is a verbal discussion based therapy with a trained mental health professional to explore thoughts, emotions, meaning, and behavior in conversation. Allison McDonald is trained in both Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling from Harding University and incorporates both in her mental health services. Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) is a type of counseling that focuses on improving relationships—whether between couples, families, or individuals and their loved ones. Instead of just looking at symptoms in one person, MFT's explores how problems are shaped by relationship patterns, communication, environment, past experiences, beliefs, emotional dynamics, and goals. MFT therapy uses models like Solution-Focused Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Psychoanalytic Therapy and so much more in addition to traditional Mental Health Therapy models.
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Traditional talk therapy is useful for improving overall mental wellbeing, gain insight to patterns and behavior, decrease distress, develop distress tolerance, develop coping strategies, process past experiences, develop boundaries for yourself and others, develop healthy confrontation skills with yourself and others and to develop a connection to your authentic self. ​​​​​​​
WHAT ARE MY TREATMENT OPTIONS?
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Christian Based Therapy
Christian therapy is a form of counseling or psychotherapy that integrates psychological principles with Christian faith and values. It addresses emotional, relational, and spiritual concerns through the lens of biblical truth, prayer, and spiritual guidance, while still using proven mental health strategies. Christian based therapy helps people heal emotionally and grow spiritually by combining clinical methods with the hope, wisdom, and grace found in Christian faith.I
Christian based therapy can be tailored to each person's different levels of spiritual engagement based on the client’s background and comfort and can be useful for developing faith in God through our experience of emotional pain and suffering. Christian therapy includes prayer, spiritually aligned guidance, and biblical discernment while truthfully challenging any fears and possible misperceptions of God or ourselves.
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Allison McDonald, LMFT can integrate faith and spirituality into counseling when clients request it, but it’s never assumed or expected. Allison will shape your therapy around what’s helpful and right for you. All questions and concerns are welcome.
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It is brave to ask hard questions. You are allowed to explore anything that is on your heart and mind.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
EMDR is an experiential structured therapy technique designed to help individuals heal from trauma, stuck memories, anxiety, depression, fears, and negative core beliefs. Whenever a traumatic event occurs, sometimes our brain does not fully process the experience and can become "stuck" in memories, flashbacks, undesired defense mechanisms, or bad habits that feel automatic and distressing. EMDR therapy focused on the core memories in order to create desensitization and reprocessing of the memory in order experience healing and reduce unwanted automatic responses.
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How Does It Work?
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EMDR uses bi-lateral stimulation with side-to-side sounds, tapping, or eye movements to mimic how the brain processes memories in REM sleep. When this occurs, your brain is able to process visual memory, bodily responses, emotions, thoughts, meaning, and negative core beliefs at the same time. Over time and with recurrent reprocessing, clients are able to reduce emotional intensity of the memory, decrease distress, challenge negative meaning or negative core beliefs more effectively, decrease defense mechanisms, increase relaxation, and facilitate integration or new more adaptive and truthful beliefs.
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Key Principles:
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1. EMDR is based on the idea that the brain has a natural ability to heal itself, it often gets stuck in a defense mechanism that may no longer be needed.
2. Present symptoms are often the result of unprocessed or "frozen" stored in the brain with its original emotions, beliefs, body sensations, and responses.
3. Reprocessing is useful for unlocking stuck trauma and Bi-Lateral Stimulation is useful for helping integrate both sides of the brain for thorough processing, allowing the client to make sense of it and release the stored trauma.
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Allison McDonald, LMFT is trained in EMDR parts 1 and 2.
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Brain Spotting (BSP) Therapy
Brain Spotting, or BSP, is a powerful trauma-focused therapy that helps individuals process emotional pain with using the connection between the brain, body, and eye position. BSP is a gaze and mindfulness based therapy technique that is useful for identifying and releasing core somatic and neurophysiological symptoms of trauma, anxiety, depression, performance issues, chronic pain, and emotional distress. BSP mimics the natural, focused-yet-drifting state, similar to the drifting state we enter when zoning out while driving, when your gaze is fixed but your mind is processing beneath the surface.
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How Does It Work?
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While focusing on the desired topic and noticing your body's response to that topic, the therapist will then help you find the precise fixed eye position where you feel the issue most strongly. The eye position, or "Brain Spot", is found using a pointer to slow eye tracking. Once a brain spot linked to the emotional or somatic experience is found, the client will maintain their gaze on that fixed eye location while observing their internal experience of thoughts, sensations, emotions, or memories. The goal or Brain Spotting is to process stored responses and create emotional release, insight, decrease physical distress, and increase relief.
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Key Principles:
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1. Unprocessed trauma is not only stored in the mind, but also in the body and in deeper parts of the brain.
2. Where you look effects how you feel. The gaze accesses the brain in ways talking cannot.
3. Healing can happen without words. BSP reprocesses the body's response and emotions and is not memory dependent, so the client does not have to be able to verbalize their experience if they prefer not to.
4. Since BSP focus is the body and the brain, the client experiences less reliving of traumatic memories while still reprocessing. ​
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Allison McDonald, LMFT is trained in Brain Spotting Level 1
Sensory Motor Expressive Art Therapy
Sensory Motor Expressive Art Therapy is a creative body-based therapy approach to healing that incorporates movement, color, sensation, creativity, and expressive arts, such as drawing, painting, coloring, sculpting, or music. Sensory Motor Expressive Art Therapy is a non-verbal therapy useful for helping people heal from uncomfortable emotional experiences or trauma. The primary focus of Sensory Motor Expressive Art Therapy is to access, express, and transform negative experiences and to release and integrate them safely through art, movement, and expression. Sensory Motor Expressive Art Therapy often uses bi-lateral movement with expressive art or movement to create a deeper level of processing.
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How Does It Work?
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Sensory Motor Expressive Art Therapy is a client-led and therapist guided form of expressive art therapy. It can be as creative and expressive as the client is comfortable being. It can be as simple as scribbles to a detailed collage of pictures or colors representing emotional wounds. Any creative or expressive from to represent thoughts, feelings, or experiences is welcome. No art experience with art is needed. A Sensory Motor Expressive Art Therapy session may include scribbling, painting, drawing images, music, drumming, movement, dance, posturing, guided imagery, body scans, or whatever other form of creative expression the client may have interest in practicing. The art topic is determined by the client and therapist guides them to express it safely in their creative expressive preference.
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Key Principles:
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1. Art making allows for non-verbal expression of pain and discomfort for what the body remembers but the mind may not.
2. Art making allows for the client to reprocesses emotions and sensations without having to recall, name, or relive the experience.
3. Healing begins with healing the felt experience first in order to heal the emotional and cognitive pain more effectively.
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Allison McDonald, LMFT is trained in Bilateral Stimulation and Sensory Motor Expressive Art Therapy in 2021 by the Trauma-Informed Practices & Expressive Art Therapy Institute. Allison incorporates her training with other experiential therapy practices.
Somatic Experiential (SomEx) Therapy
SomEx Therapy is a somatic experiential, body focused therapy
technique practiced to expand the body’s natural way of releasing the stored survival tension and automatic responses that became frustrated or stuck by a traumatic event(s). Somatic Experiential Therapy uses our body’s natural, physical, vagus responses to self-protect to then reduces the body's felt experience of the traumatic events or memories. SomEx helps the client develop and learn how to reduce or strengthen the body's natural response to become a safe resource to use in every day life or to help integrate all aspects of processing traumatic events or stressors. Somatic Experiential is effective at treating and calming the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Abuse Survival, negative core beliefs, and so much more.
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How Does It Work?​
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In SomEx, the therapist gently guides you to notice internal sensations like muscle tension, heart rate, breathing or emotions to create awareness of how your body automatically responds or holds a difficult or positive experience. This can be done with observation or the use of props or fidgets around the room. The therapist and the client create awareness to the information provided by the body and develop the ability to "stay present" with the stored survival response in order to create co-regulation and become fully integrated with the traumatic event or stressor with emotional and mental safety resources. ​​
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Key Principles:
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1. The body cannot lie and holds truths the mind may avoid
2. Safety is essential. Healing happens best when the nervous system feels secure. Creating safety is key.
3. SomEx is a slow paced therapy technique that is often integrated with other therapy techniques. It uses small, titrated steps to develop safety, rather than overwhelm.
4. SomEx is client driven, meaning the client, and the client's automatic responses determine the pace, leaving room for the body to heal on its own. The therapist role is listening and exploring the responses already provided by the client.
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Allison McDonald, LMFT has been trained in both Module 1 and Module 2 of SomEx, in process of becoming fully certified.
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or TF-CBT, is a structured evidence-based form of psychotherapy that focused on verbally reprocessing trauma. TF-CBT emphasized the value of telling your story, while simultaneously challenging possible false stories people tell themselves about their negative experiences. TF-CBT also focuses on developing self-awareness, implementing new cognitive and physical coping skills, changing cognitive distortions, and so much more. TF-CBT is useful for treating PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, and so much more.
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How Does It Work?
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TF-CBT used psychoeducation, relaxation, identifying & naming emotions, developing healthy alternative coping skills for emotional regulation, and confronting their trauma narrative in a safe way. This can be done by challenging cognitive distortions, reframing unfair beliefs, and responding to trauma triggers with pre-determined healthy alternative coping skills.
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Allison McDonald, LMFT attended a TF-CBT training in 2014 and did not pursue certification. Allison incorporates her TF-CBT training with her psychotherapy techniques.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, of DBT, is a structured, evidence based psychotherapy therapy that help people manage intense emotions, improve relationships, and reduce harmful behaviors by developing interpersonal relationship effectiveness skills and healthy confrontation skills with yourself and others. The word "dialectical" means balance between two opposing ideas or experiences. DBT has 4 main core modules, Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotional Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. DBT focusing on teaching cognitive skills to accept themselves and their experiences while also learning to make healthy changes in thoughts, feelings, behavior, and approaches to situations and other people. DBT focuses on mindfulness while implementing strategies for challenging assumptions, addressing internal and external conflicts, how to accept and adjust to difficult realities, and so much more.
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How Does It Work?
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DBT is a talk based therapy that uses awareness, introspection, and strategies to challenge assumptions, addressing internal and external conflicts, challenge to accept and adjust to difficult realities, and so much more. DBT uses many acronyms to help remember the strategies in times of stress to simplify the integration of these skills in daily practice.
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Allison McDonald, LMFT is trained in DBT skills part 1 & 2
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