Our programs and services include counseling, couples group, family counseling, child therapy, adolescent groups, play therapy, and parenting classes.

The Counseling and Education Center, staffed by a diverse community of dedicated caring professionals enriches our community by providing affordable emotional, psychological, and spiritual intervention and prevention counseling services to families and individuals.

Our Mission

The Counseling and Education Center enriches our community’s emotional health through affordable professional counseling.

Programs and Services

Our most recent Parents Effective Communication Skills Class met TWO Saturdays, Sept. 13th & 27th

Parents Effective Communication Skills Classes (and INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS WITH AN INSTRUCTOR) emphasize specific skills for parents in listening, being listened to, conflict resolution, and solving relationship problems.

The next PECS Class will be scheduled sometime in the next couple of months. Call the Center #243-9539 to obtain a Reservation Form. Individual Sessions for PECS also may be arranged with one of our instructors during times when no PECS class is scheduled.

The group PECS Classes are held in the Lion's Den...behind our main CEC building. Sorry, but no child-care is available. Reservations need to be brought or sent in before the first group session begins.

SCHOLARSHIPS sometimes are available for the group PECS Classes!

Call #243-9539 for more details about instructors, cost, credit, and scholarship funds available for PECS Classes. Individual PECS sessions may be arranged when requested if no PECS Classes are scheduled.

As an example, a 12-hour PECS Class most recently was held on the following days:

The first SATURDAY was September 13th 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

The SECOND and FINAL meeting was September 27th 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Full credit can only be given when the course is required by the court if the parent(s) attend all 12 hrs.

We can provide some scholarship funds for PECS Classes if parents cannot afford the full fee ($100)

When scholarships are provided, we require $25 deposits at the beginning of the Class.

Then, if both sessions are attended, the $25 is returned upon completion of the Class.

Counseling

All CEC Counselors have Master's degrees and advanced training in their fields of expertise. Interns are graduate students doing their practicum and internship at CEC as they work with our other Counselors and clients.

Some examples of problems that counseling can address are depression, anxiety disorders, physical and sexual abuse, relationship difficulties, adult and child victims of domestic violence, post-traumatic stress disorder, and adjustment problems (e.g. loss of a job, loved one, etc.).

Counseling services are provided for individuals, couples, parents/children, adolescents, and families.

Play Therapy [Click HERE for more details and information]

This type of therapy for children safely addresses and resolves their problems. Through play, children take responsibility for their behavior, create new solutions, learn to experience and express emotion, and learn to be empathic. They can recover from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.

PowerAid^r

PowerAid^r is a support group for children who have been exposed to violence. This group approach is based on a curriculum from the Domestic Abuse Project. Our group of K-1st graders meets weekly at Dos Rios Elementary School. The goals are to support each child in learning that abuse is NEVER their fault, how to handle conflict, and how to STAY SAFE. Scholarships are available when needed by families of these children to provide free PowerAid^r!

Anger Management for Adults

Individual counseling and small-group therapy helps those who are trying to learn new ways to resolve conflict and manage anger which may arise between themselves and others, both at home and at work.

Insights & Anger Management for Adolescents

This course is designed to reduce risky behaviors at home, at school, and in the community, and to help develop appropriate decision making patterns and habits. The 12 week classes are intended for adolescents ages 12 through 18 years.

GOALS:

To learn better decision-making patterns that lower their risk for behavioral problems at home, at school, and/or in the community.

To learn how their decisions affect themselves and others.

To learn the steps to follow when making healthy and good decisions.

OBJECTIVES:

To identify at least 5 steps to use when making a decision.

To identify at which step her/his pattern for making a decision is flawed, and

To develop a minimum of 3 ways to repair the flaws in her/his decision-making pattern.

Sexually Reactive Group

This group will help increase awareness and establish healthy behaviors and boundaries, for children approximately ages 7 to 9 years old.

Workshops

Workshops can be designed for your group or your office.

	Myers-Briggs Personality Tests
	Neuro-Linquistic Programming (NLP)
	Self-Esteem Building
	Understanding Non-Verbal Communications
	Staff Development

More About Child Therapy

OUR GOAL
Our goal at CEC is to provide a supportive, safe and therapeutic setting for you and your child. You may be bringing your child or teen to counseling for a variety of reasons, such as low self-esteem, behavior problems, sexual abuse, bedwetting, failing grades or skipping school, to name a few. We want to provide an environment in which the problems you and/ or your child face can be resolved.

Problems don't usually start overnight. By the time a parent makes the first appointment, the situation usually has become very difficult, if not unbearable, for the child, parent(s) or whole family. Don't expect the problem to go away immediately. The length of treatment will be determined by the individual rate of progress. Your child's therapist is always willing to visit with you about scheduling and progress.

For children's safety, bring them into and out of the building for each appointment. Please be prompt.
CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES OF OUR SPECIAL PLAY THERAPY ROOMS.

THE FIRST SESSION
At the first session, you will generally come without your child. At the second session your child's therapist will ask you to explain the problem(s) with the child present.

It is important for the child to be present to alleviate his worst fantasies about what is wrong. A child always knows something is wrong, and often imagines it to be much worse than it is. Whatever you need to say is generally best said in front of your child. In this way the therapist can observe the child's reactions, the dynamics between child and you, and hear all sides. This is also the beginning of establishing a trusting relationship with the child.

Therapists aren't too concerned if the child is unwilling to talk or give his/her view at this time. The therapist is interested in having the child be there to hear what his/her parents say, and for him/her to get a good look at the therapist. The child discovers that the therapist is interested in him/ her as a person and can see, hear, and treat him with respect.

After the problem is brought up, the therapist will often ask the parents to wait outside while s/he talks with the child. S/he may say something about doing what s/he can do to make things better, that we'll be doing some things that are fun, that we'll be finding out about him/her and hope s/he will, too, and explain about confidentiality -- in general, establish rapport and trust.

CONFIDENTIALITY
A child needs to know that whatever is revealed to us will not go back immediately to the parents. We explain that the only times we are obligated to break confidentiality is if the child is a danger to others, suicidal or when the child's life is in danger through physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

If we decide there is something that would be beneficial for parent(s) to know, we ask the child if we can discuss the issue with you, the parent(s), always in the child's presence. Children over 14 years of age legally have the privilege of confidentiality.

HOW LONG WILL THERAPY LAST?
Length of therapy depends on the age of the child and counseling goals. We will work with your child only as long as we judge necessary. Graduation is always planned with the parent and child. The child partly defines the length of therapy by the attitude and demeanor displayed.

Children reach a plateau in therapy, and this can be a good stopping time. The child needs time to integrate the changes taking place as a result of the therapy. At a later stage a child may again benefit from therapy. If therapy is stopped prematurely, the child may revert to old behavior in order to continue therapy.

Preparation and timing for graduation from therapy are important. When therapy is stopped abruptly, a child feels abandoned by the therapist. People need time to deal with the feelings involved in saying goodbye to anyone they like and care about. Usually we will suggest that we meet a couple of times or more, on alternate weeks before graduation.

THE VALUE OF PLAY THERAPY
"When we listen and see what children do and how they play, we have a chance to know them better. When children play, they speak of themselves. We adults often don't take children's play as an open, honest and important expression of their lives, problems and joys. We say,' Children just play. ' But for the child, play is serious, purposeful business." (Violet Oaklander, Windows To Our Children).

Through play therapy the child has a safe place, where s/he can try out different ways of being: either gentle, quiet, thoughtful or aggressive. Play serves as a symbolism, a substitute for missing words. When children draw, they create themselves and their own world on paper.

Example: A ten year old boy drew "Batman." We can relate his choice to a movie-- and that's it--or we can view it as an expression of himself. When he finished his drawing, the therapist asked him if he could be this "batman," and he told her a lot about himself. He said "I am in the wind, I can fly where ever I want to." The therapist believed him wholeheartedly knowing that he suffered from his parents' divorce. He missed his father who lived in another state.

The boy as "Batman" said, "I am strong. I am invisible so I can fight crime." Then he pointed to the shield, saying "I have a shield; nothing can hurt me. I wear a mask; nobody can see me; I hide my real face." This child desperately tried to hide his sadness and despair regarding his parents' divorce. But as "Batman" he felt safe to express his feelings.

Sometimes this is the only way--through play, fantasy, drawing--to disclose himself. What a child draws or how he plays shows how this -child is in the world. We learn about his fantasies, fears, guilt, hopes, wants and needs, and we handle his play and material with care. A drawing, a puppet, or a toy speaks for a child. As CEC counselors we believe that we can help children grow emotionally by expressing blocked feelings through play. The goal is to assist children with problems and to help them become happier human beings.

POSSIBLE CUES THAT INDICATE A PROBLEM
These behaviors may be indications that something is happening that may merit looking into. Any sudden change of behavior may be a cue. Examples include being: Bossy, Shy, Lazy, Sarcastic, Sullen, Overly aggressive, Poor sport, Class clown

Other cues: Lying, Playing hooky, Over-eating, Bragging, Head banging, Bedwetting, Clamming up, Sleeping excessively, Insomnia, Tattling, Drug use, Self-pity, Hurting self, Nightmares

(Some exerpts are from Windows To Our Children, by Violet Oaklander)

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