Talk Therapy to Replace Discomfort with Harmony
Todd Esterburg, LISW, LLC
Through our professional relationship it’s my hope that you experience increased effectiveness and empowerment in many areas of your life.
My Story
For my entire life, I have enjoyed connecting with people and solving problems. My small counseling practice in Rocky River on the west side of Cleveland evolved from decades of work with individuals and families trying to create a new vision for their daily lives. I combine these experiences with a formal education obtained from John Carroll University (BSBA Finance) and Cleveland State University (MSW) to provide client-focused and results-driven counseling services. I’m a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) in the state of Ohio, providing in-person and telehealth counseling services.
Outside of my counseling practice, I live on the west side of Cleveland with my daughter and son. I consider myself a spiritual seeker, and when I’m not at my office, I enjoy connecting with God and family as often as I can through activities such as gardening, camping, cooking, exercise, and other assorted adventures ranging from local to afar. I’m also an avid reader and consumer of the arts.
The services I offer
I provide talk therapy as a process by which clients are able to examine their lives and increase their feelings of effectiveness.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) assists individuals with connecting their feelings, thoughts, and actions so that they may better understand themselves as a whole person and, therefore, increase self-determination in their lives. This allows more congruence with actions and beliefs.
Talk therapy is an opportunity to utilize a professional, confidential, unbiased relationship as a tool for a personal change process. Often, people identify with anxiety and/or depression, leading them to seek out talk therapy. In our work together we’ll often focus on your whole person development. This awareness of the whole person is best developed by focusing on four primary areas of CBT: self-soothing, mindfulness, cognitive distortions, and personal narrative. As the aforementioned congruence occurs, uncomfortable feelings and thoughts associated with anxiety and/or depression decrease.
My faith or God consciousness, rooted in humility and openness, is important to me. I’m happy to meet you where you’re at on the spectrum of belief, and if you’re interested, to share what I’ve learned along the way. It’s definitely not my role to convince anyone what they should believe. However, often in counseling, an individual’s limits are discussed and held next to statements about the vastness of existence.
I deliver this experience with both in-person/face-to-face counseling and a secure Telehealth interface, depending on the client’s preferences and the situation’s needs. Some of my clients move fluidly back and forth between the two modalities regularly, and others prefer to stick with a chosen interface.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Physical Soothing
Being more aware of physical sensations and how they help calm us down is an important skill to develop.
Physical Soothing
When we practice increasing awareness and appropriate responsiveness to our discomfort, we begin to not only feel better, but also embody a belief that we can effectively take care of our needs. This is the foundational awareness that we layer progress on in cognitive behavioral therapy
Mindfulness
When we are in a mindful place, we are present, and realizing the most actual control over our lives.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is often simply described as being in the present moment. We begin to realize that our uncomfortable feelings and thoughts exist in the past and/or in the future, though we are experiencing them in the present. By focusing on the present, we position ourselves in a place of legitimate empowerment to embrace our lives and a change process.
Cognitive Distortions
All of us develop unhealthy patterns of thought. It is very helpful to better spot these so that we can substititue with healthier ways of thinking.
Cognitive Distortions
As we develop increased abilities to stay present focused and care for ourselves, our thoughts start to become more and more clear. By labeling these thoughts we are able to identify levels of intensity and impact on our mood more easily. We are also able to craft replacements for our unhealthy/distorted thoughts and take our self care to a level of increased personal effectiveness.
Personal Narrative
We combine all of these skills together to more deeply understand our personal narrative; past, present, and future.
Personal Narrative
With patience and commitment we have become able to more clearly see our life path: where we’ve come from, where we are now, and where we’d like to head. No longer are we in a mainly reactive place. We have improved our awareness in many areas and our ability to explore and communicate this awareness with ourselves and others. Feelings and thoughts have become opportunities to deepen the authentic richness of life.
Cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) is based on better realizing the connection between our feelings, thoughts, and actions. The more that we recognize the connection, the more empowered we are to impact the way that we feel and the choices that we make.
Reimbursement Information
I offer a fee for service model for clients, along with processing some insurance plans. My preference is a fee for service arrangement. This means that there is an hourly rate that I am reimbursed for our therapeutic time together. I find that this increases confidentiality and flexibility for clients, as such a model eliminates insurance companies from the equation, specifically their desire to control or influence any of our process.
My clients are able to make payments for sessions on their unique Simple Practice, client portal with a credit card at any time, or during a session with me by either check or credit card. My rates are $120 per 55 minute session and $75 per 30 minute session, including any contact longer than 7 minutes. 30 minute sessions are only conducted as phone calls, while 55 minute sessions can be either face to face or via a Telehealth interface, such as video link or phone. This same fee structure is applied to extraordinary document preparation.
My Blog
My blog explores the transformative power of CBT alongside topics like anxiety and depression, providing readers with practical strategies for finding relief and improving mental well-being.
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