Located at 17920 Huffmeister Road, Ste. 150, Cypress, the center has been around since 2016 and boasts a talented team of counselors who specialize in various different subjects and therapies.
Community Impact sat down with director of operations Sarah Howard and owner Kristin King to discuss what makes Sequoia Counseling Center unique, how they manage their own mental health and some of their services.
What services does Sequoia Counseling Center offer?
King: We are a pretty large group practice. We currently have 14 therapists and then two practicum students. We see everybody; our goal is to be able to serve anybody who calls. We see kids as young as four, teens, adults, couples and families.
We have a wide variety of specialities including:
- Traditional psychotherapy
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy
- Certified play therapy
- Christian counseling
- Premarital counseling
- Infidelity work
- Family therapy
- Anxiety
- Trauma
- Grief
- Depression
King: Play therapy is a specific training where you are using play to help kids identify themes of what's going on. We may have a parent bring a kid in for behavioral stuff, but we know that behavior is just an outcome of something else or it's just an indicator of something else going on. Play therapy is helping pull out the underlying themes of why this is happening, and then help the kid process it.
What is EMDR therapy?
Howard: It was initially created to treat trauma, especially with veterans and for people with PTSD. For me, professionally, I find I am using it to help clients with symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as trauma.
What makes Sequoia Counseling Center unique?
King: We have an incredible staff, we're selective about who we hire and we're pretty picky about making sure our counselors are trained well. I'm a licensed supervisor, and I provide the direct supervision for five of our counselors right now. We have a lot of hands-on training with the staff. We want our people to be really good at what they do.
What are IASIS Microcurrent neurofeedback sessions?
King: We’re using an EEG device that is putting out a very small microcurrent of energy. We're putting the small metal discs attached to wires in specific places in order to stimulate the brainwaves to work how they're supposed to. Through time and through environment and through life circumstances and through trauma and all of this stuff, our brain starts to fire differently than it was created to. All this is doing is helping the brainwaves shift back towards how they're supposed to work.
Howard: On the therapy side, it helps us get through stuff quicker because their nervous system isn't locked in a fear state. They're experiencing more balance and regulation, which makes working on symptoms of anxiety, depression, trauma and even ADHD.
How do you take care of your own mental health as counselors?
King: We really, really stress being aware of how the job is impacting you and being aware of how your clients are impacting you. We do a lot of collaboration. As leadership, we feel like our primary role is to support and love on the counselors so that they can process what they're doing. I really encourage the counselors to have their own therapist and to establish a healthy work life balance.
Howard: We have a weekly staff meeting and sometimes we do consultation during that time. I think just normalizing when we're struggling and normalizing the challenges that we overcome is helpful.
To learn more about Sequoia Counseling Center and the services they offer, visit their website.
The above story was produced by Community Impact's Storytelling Senior Multi-Platform Journalist Sierra Rozen with information solely provided by the local business as part of their "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team.
