inspirational quote


Vicki Martin

 MEET VICKI MARTIN   



Hi!  Welcome to my page.  I'm a therapist specializing in individual therapy in Arkansas and coaching throughout the U.S. With more than fifteen years of experience as a counselor, I currently serve as private practitioner working with adults. Among my areas of specialized study are surviving and overcoming trauma, PTSD, dissociative difficulties, spiritual issues, depression, and anxiety.

Helping others heal from emotional wounds is my passion.  Life experiences are what make me so connected to my work.

In addition to practicing as a therapist, I have served as mentor, coach, and consultant for other therapists; and taught graduate level counseling courses at Arkansas State University. I'm bilingual and have experience with Spanish-speaking adults.

I strive to make my office a safe place where you can be heard and never judged.  Everyone who comes in for the first time, especially if they have never been to therapy, feels anxious to one degree or another.   It takes a lot of courage to seek and get help – to tell someone you really don’t know things that you may have never told anyone.  In addition, many believe that someone must be “crazy” or really messed up if they are seeking therapy.  This is totally not true.  My hope is that when you finish your therapy you will know that you know you matter; you are enough; and there is nothing wrong with who you are, nor has there even been.

 

I’d like to also say that some parts of the Country seem to have more difficulty with the idea of going to therapy than other parts.  If you are from the Bible Belt, i.e., the South, some believe that going to therapy means they are not “Christian” enough or that they don’t have enough faith.  Neither of those things are true – they are simply false (I can say this because I was raised in the South).  I would be more inclined to say that it takes a lot of faith to go where you might feel led for therapy.  God made doctors, electricians, and therapists for a reason.

 

Connections Counseling Center is about the whole person, mind ~ body ~ spirit.  This is because the healing journey includes and affects every part of us.   It’s the way we humans are wired.   This is well documented in neuroscience.   If something affects us on an emotional level, especially something chronic, it affects us physically (many illnesses and health issues are highly correlated with histories of all kinds of trauma) and in our spirit, or soul, our true Self – however you define those.  It affects the essence of who we are.  Chronic abuse of any kind harms our beliefs about our own selves.  It affects the part of us that connects to the Divine, to the Universe, to everyone and everything else – relationships, environment, mood, the way we parent, the way we view ourselves, others, and the world.  Issues in any of these realms affects all the others. If you can only see yourself through the critical eyes of others, your spirit/inner light is greatly dimmed until hope can seem fleeting. 

 

I have a lot of life experience in addition to my education.   And that is what makes me so connected to my work.  I integrate several therapies (all based on research, psychology, and neuroscience) and use a holistic approach.  This is because the goal is that when you complete your therapy, you will feel more at peace and more whole/less fragmented. More connected to yourself, your spirit, and others - the best version of yourself.  


So – if you’re even thinking about therapy, give me a call or send me a text.  If you call, please leave a voicemail so that I will know to return the call.  

 

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