Marriage, Couples & Relationship Counseling

The most exciting way to live is in true connection with your partner.

 If you're in need of relationship, marriage or couples counseling, we can help.  Please visit our site at www.DrQuintal.com or call us at 941-907-0525 for a free phone consultation.

Personality Disorder? There Is Hope!

When therapists attempt to achieve behavior changes in their clients, they usually assume the absence of a personality disorder. 

It is, after all, a major task to work with clients in making significant life changes without going through the hurdle of addressing a personality disorder as well. People with personality disorders often lack the feeling of distress that motivates major changes within the therapeutic setting.

However, when the focus is on specific behaviors that can be changed to bring about smoother life adjustments, therapists can have great success in working with people who have personality disorders. People can recognize when they have a recurrent pattern of difficulty in their lives – and this recognition can serve as the motivator for change in therapy. A trained professional therapist is able to find those areas that help a client recognize the need for change.  For example, people with dependent personality disorder may come to understand that they may well lose their significant relationship unless some changes occur in their need to be taken care of. While the person’s internal needs for dependency may persist even after the therapeutic intervention, changes in the person’s overt behavior can go a long way in resolving the situation. When the outer behaviors are changed, the internal needs may then undergo adjustments in a healthier direction.

People with paranoid personality disorder, for example, can activate their sensitivity so that they become attuned to the needs of other people in a productive way. People with schizotypal personality disorder can transform a pattern of odd beliefs into a more creative and socially approved set of responses. Those with borderline personalities can use their tendency toward rapidly shifting moods to being more spontaneous (and sensible) in their responses toward others. Negative symptoms associated with these disorders can be turned into positive qualities which help the person in adapting to life’s demands.

A trained professional therapist is able to provide a setting in which seemingly intractable problems can be addressed. A feeling of safety and trust is built between the therapist and client – and this opens the door to trying new behaviors, with support, which have seemed impossible until now. A whole new world awaits those who give it a try.

Do you think you or someone you love suffers with a personality disorder? We can help. Please visit our site at www.DrQuintal.com or call us at 941-907-0525 for a free phone consultation.

Struggling with Low Self-Esteem?

If you struggle with low self-esteem, we can help!  Please visit our site at www.DrQuintal.com or call us at 941-907-0525 for a free phone consultation.

Beating Holiday Stress

The holidays can be an overwhelming time, especially for those that often experience anxiety. With increased family and social demands the holidays can increase stress, anxiety and depression. Proper self-care is vital to reducing these feelings felt by many during the holidays. It can also be a difficult time to focus on self-care due to these increased demands. Feelings of guilt and selfishness can accompany attempts at self-care and sabotage our best efforts to relax.

Psychology Today has featured anarticle on how to beat those feelings of guilt and selfishness in order to be your better self and improve your self care and sense of wellbeing.

Remember, it is far more difficult to care for and give to others when we do not care for and give to ourselves.  At Dr. Quintal and Associates you can find the support you need to improve your self care and reduce your stress not only during the holidays but year round. 

We invite you to visit our site for more information or you can call us at (941) 907-0525 for a free consultation.  

Do social situations make you extremely uncomfortable? Social anxiety can be treated!

Social anxiety and social phobias are treatable anxiety disorders.  Please visit our site at www.DrQuintal.com or call us at 941-907-0525 for a free phone consultation.

Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep through the night? We can help!

Insomnia, or sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which there is an inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep as long as desired. Using Accelerated Healing Methods, the team at Dr. Quintal & Associates is able to successfully treat insomnia without the use of medications.

The Good News About Chronic Pain

With good therapeutic support and a commitment to do some hard work on important life issues, chronic pain can be managed very effectively. For some people, mind/body strategies have been shown to eliminate pain altogether, even when all else has failed. People who have been through therapy which addresses pain report significantly reduced pain severity, lessened depression and anxiety, and decreased feelings of losing control. They report reductions in the degree to which pain interferes with their daily activities. Even if the pain continues, the sufferer can experience less distress and emotional suffering – and can become an active participant in life again.

Therapy For Chronic Pain

 There are several good physical treatments that can alleviate pain. Some forms of acute pain respond well to painkilling medications ranging from mild analgesics to strong opium-based drugs for the most severe cases. Some chronic pain responds well to anti-inflammatory medications or antidepressants, although narcotic drugs are seldom effective for chronic pain (they may work for short-term acute pain) since narcotics tend to require ever increasing doses and they become less effective over time – not to mention their effect on our sleep, our mood, and our ability to think and perform clearly. Sometimes electrical stimulation methods provide some relief, as well as local anesthetics, surgical procedures, ice, heat, and massage. If these medical interventions fail, however, it may be time to take a hard look into some psychotherapeutic techniques that focus on the way we handle our emotions and our general way of living.

Although the cause of chronic pain is usually difficult to pinpoint, most pain experts believe that it is caused by damaged and inflamed nerves, muscles and blood vessels – and it is very real. The body becomes locked into a vicious cycle. You naturally limit movement in the painful area, and this causes you to lose strength and flexibility. If you try to ignore the pain and increase your activity, the pain becomes so severe that you again become inactive. Sometimes you unconsciously guard against the pain and this leads to muscle tension and spasms. Your body becomes weak and deconditioned, and you begin to feel frustrated, angry, and depressed. Your friends and family do not understand the pain and may underestimate its impact on your life. This leads to more anger and depression.

Sometimes, though, it may overindulge you, and this can make you feel more dependent and out of control of your own life. These negative emotions can actually perpetuate pain. The more negativity we feel, the greater our pain – and the greater our pain, the more negative emotions we experience. This negative spiral, though, can be broken. We are sometimes told that we will just have to live with our pain after all else has failed, but we are far from doomed at this point. The realization that nothing else medically can be done can actually force us to examine the way we have lived and what brought us to the point where pain can play such a dominant role in our lives. In fact, this may just be the thing that it takes to turn one’s life around in a very positive and meaningful way.

You are invited to explore the many alternative ways of dealing with pain that therapy has to offer. Please visit our site at DrQuintal.com or call us at 941-907-0525 for a free phone consultation.

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