The Best Psychotherapist Ever

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A Quirky, Fun Page - With Real Intent

Ashley is intuitive, compassionate, uses humor and facilitates popular therapeutic support groups as well as working with individuals, while providing affordable individual and group counseling.

AS FAR AS THERAPISTS GO - There are MANY wonderful & gifted psychotherapists out there, I just happen to be the first one to grab this heading. :)

Ventura County, California.

Is it time for a change? Ready to feel better?

The Top Reasons Ashley Bretting, MS MFT is the Best Psychotherapist

A QUIRKY BUT REAL PAGE... It is good to lighten up and laugh, especially at ourselves!
  • 1She uses an eclectic approach with emphasis in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • 2She incorporates a bit of lighthearted humor with compassion
  • 3She is friendly & welcoming, extremely helpful and engaging
  • 4Offers affordable support groups and individual counseling
  • 5Two locations for your convenience - Ventura (near the Pacific View Mall) and Camarillo
  • 6Combines therpeutic interventions, educational components and mindfulness techniques
  • 7Is specially trained in: facilitating groups, domestic violence, anxiety and depression issues and much more
  • 8Is an award winning and locally published licensed marriage and family therapist
  • 9Knows what all those letters after her name stand for :)

Remember To Schedule

Relaxation Time

RELAXATION IS VERY IMPORTANT

As adults we often need to re-learn "how to" relax.
Suggestions include: A relaxing massage, A walk on the beach, Calming music... And here are a few more ideas

A Picnic

Get Outdoors and Be With Nature

Spend Time In A Good Book

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Taking A Closer Look At Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive therapy suggests that psychological distress is caused by distorted thoughts about stimuli giving rise to distressing emotions.

The theory is particularly well developed (also, empirically supported) in the case of depression & anxiety, where clients frequently experience unduly negative thoughts which arise automatically even in response to stimuli which might otherwise be experienced as positive. This is often is referred to as, automatic negative thoughts.

For example, a depressed or anxious client hearing "please stop leaving the company meetings early" might think "everything I do is wrong; there is no point in even trying". The same client might hear "congratulations on your success" and think "that was a fluke; I won't ever be able to do anything like that again". Any of these thoughts can lead to feelings of hopelessness or reduced self esteem, maintaining or worsening the individual's depression or anxiety.

Usually cognitive therapeutic work is established by an awareness of the role of the client's behavior and self talk. The task of CBT is partly to understand how the three components of emotions, behaviors and thoughts interrelate, and how they may be influenced by external stimuli (sometimes including events which may have occurred early in the client's life).

Consider this: Negative thoughts can lead to negative feelings which, can lead to negative or self destructive behaviors. This cycle can be broken!

Q: What does external stimulus mean?
A: External stimulus is something from around you that causes you to do, think or react in some way.



On Success & Failure

Anyone who has ever achieved success,
has experienced failures along the way.
.

CBT From Wikipedia

Cognitive behavioral therapy (or CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to influence problematic and dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure. CBT can be seen as an umbrella term for therapies that share a theoretical basis in behavioristic learning theory and cognitive psychology, and that use methods of change derived from these theories.[1].

CBT treatments have received empirical support for efficient treatment of a variety of clinical and non-clinical problems, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders, and psychotic disorders.

In the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends CBT as the treatment of choice for a number of mental health difficulties, including post-traumatic stress disorder, OCD, bulimia nervosa and clinical depression.

to read more visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy
Related links
A different take on life, with humor
My personal life is often experienced as an ongoing episode of I Love Lucy - Giggles
Ashley's own website
Ashley's own site
Group Therapy - What I do
Could a group be just what you need?

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AshleyBretting-M.S.

Ashley Breting, M.S. is a licensed psychotherapist, she has a master's of science degree in counseling with the focus on marriage & family therapy.&She... more »

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