Chronic Illness Counseling
in Houston, TX and Online
Develop effective ways to cope and find meaning for your life.
Managing chronic illness is exhausting. A chronic illness therapist can provide support and help you cope.
Chronic Illness Counseling Can Help You:
- Examine your true feelings, beliefs and values and how they work with your illness
- Answer questions such as, “Why me?” and “How do I live with this”
- Take back control of your life by developing a self care plan
- Examine the choices you can make in your life and illness
- Resolve feelings of grief such as denial, bargaining and anxiety
- Find meaning and happiness again
Living with a chronic illness is a major life transition. People with chronic illnesses can find a life they enjoy again. Once you get past the shock, learning coping strategies and stress management skills can help you begin a new chapter.
Living with Chronic Illness
Therapy can help you cope with a chronic illness
A diagnosis of a chronic medical illness or disease represents a loss of what was known and familiar to you. This is a major loss. You might not be able to move or feel the way you used to in your body. You may not be able to do the same kind of work that you used to without getting run down.
Your relationships with family members may feel strained. You may have to evaluate the risks and side effects of serious medications, whose side effects can lead to other health concerns.
This can be very overwhelming and difficult to cope with along with the medical management of your health condition – trying to find the right treatment and attending doctors appointments.
A mental health professional can treat the psychological symptoms and help you make behavioral and lifestyle changes that provide you with the quality of life you deserve.
Therapy Can Help You Grieve & Create Meaning
Making the adjustment to living with chronic illness can certainly be a difficult one, but it doesn’t mean your life is over. Your first step is grieving the loss of what was known before and moving to a place of acceptance.
It’s important to acknowledge your feelings as it will help you move through the grief. It’s easy to get caught up in the medical condition and lose touch with the emotional aspects of your experience. Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation, rather it means finding ways to build a new life around your illness.
Conversely, you also want to spend time focusing on things outside your illness. Finding joy, new interests, new connections. Moving through grief can help you get to the other side.
The good news is that you can create a new life. A therapist can help you evaluate your options, make serious decisions about your career or other aspects of life and support you through the journey of grief to renewal. There is another side to this story and we’d like to partner with you to create it.
You Need Support Too
Having outside support can keep you grounded. Sometimes, it’s easy for others in your life to “forget” that you have this disease. It’s not that they “forget”, it’s just that it’s not as visible on the outside as other illnesses might be. You may have to hold it together at work and you might not be receiving the same type of community support you might receive if you had a traditional life-threatening disease.
As time goes on, people in your life may go on as usual while you’re still feeling the same pain. Some people might not even understand your disease or give you advice such as work on your stress or watch what you eat, which can feel shaming or minimizing. Sometimes it might feel that you’re coping with this chronic illness all alone.
Counseling is a way to get the support you need. Your therapist remembers what you’re going through each time you walk through the door and is there only to support you. Sometimes, it can be the break you need to reenergize and keep on moving forward.
It’s not your fault that you have a chronic illness. Just as it’s not easy for others to support you in the way that you need. A therapist can provide empathy and understanding and truly be partner and ally as you move through the healing process.
Chronic Illness Therapy FAQ's
Many people experience depression when coping with a chronic illness. There are a combination of factors that contribute to depression including lack of control, feelings of helplessness, loss of physical mobility, impact on career, chronic pain, strain on relationships, and medical complications. Reaching out and getting support can help minimize depression when coping with a chronic illness.
We can support you in finding positive and effective ways to cope with your chronic illness and live the life that is meaningful to you. We are here to listen to you and help you discover the best way to live with your illness or diagnosis. Counseling isn’t about telling you what to do to manage your chronic illness, that is what your medical team is for. We’re here to help you cope with the emotional impact it has on your life. Whether it’s feeling “weak” where you once felt strong or even having to consider changing careers.
Counseling and Support for Chronic Illness
If you are dealing with chronic illness, a chronic disease or dealing with a loved one who has chronic illness, talk therapy can help you to learn to cope with the challenges illness can bring. Many of our clients are coping with chronic illnesses such as:
- Immune related diseases
- Fibromyalgia
- Rheumatoid or Psoriatic Arthritis
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Parkinson’s
Types of therapy for chronic illness include:
- Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Compassion-Focused Therapy
- Emotion-Focused Therapy
- Family Therapy
Take care of your mental health as you face life with a chronic medical condition.
Get Help From a Specialist in Chronic Illness Counseling
Alexandra Marshall
Alexandra’s focus is on helping you develop self-confidence, cope with feelings of anxiety, emotional eating, loneliness and isolation, and mana…
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Diana Cabrera-Stewart
Diana’s specialty areas include working with mothers at any stage in their journey, as well as working with clients for whom race, culture, ethn…
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Elizabeth Lowrey
Elizabeth’s specialties include problematic alcohol use, addiction difficulties, adjusting to chronic illness, grief, loss, anxiety and depressi…
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Erica Billings
Erica specializes in working with new parents including adoptive parents and LGBTQ+ families and people who are experiencing grief, death, berea…
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Jennifer Oates
Jennifer hopes to help you reach your academic, professional, and/or personal pursuits. She has experience working with women, military, first r…
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Joan Mullinax
Joan specializes in therapy services and career counseling and helps clients with challenges incl. anxiety, depression, self-esteem, relationshi…
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Mariela Zavala
Mariela has a great interest in working with young mothers and adults from various backgrounds. Mariela can serve clients from diverse socioecon…
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Samantha Birnbaum
Sam specializes in working with teens, adults, and families that are struggling with depression, anxiety, body image & eating disorders, addicti…
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Shannon Forbes
Shannon offers affordable counseling for adults & couples. Her specialties include anxiety, career concerns, depression, grief & loss, ocd, trau…
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Suzanne Kamfar
Suzanne (Susan) is bilingual (English & Farsi). Her focus is on helping you navigate through life with balance, harmony, and authenticity. She w…
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Vanessa Guidry
Vanessa works with children, teens, young adults and families. She helps with behavioral concerns, emotional stress such as anxiety, anger and d…
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Helped me Forge a Great Foundation
My counselor helped me process some difficult issues and helped me forge a great foundation for the future. She really understood how to make the space I needed to reach my goals with therapy and I could not have asked for more empathetic and generous support.
Alabama