In a small, comfortable, one-man operation in Kansas City's historic Waldo neighborhood, you will find a good neighbor when you are in need. Mark McGonigle, LCSW, owner of Wise Mind Therapy Services, provides therapy based on compassionate understanding and effective action. Mark has been helping people as a therapist for 20 years, and has focused his efforts on developing and maintaining therapy skills that have been proven through research to alleviate human suffering.
If you need help, you can count on Mark. You can expect to be listened to carefully, understood on a deep level, given honest professional feedback and a direction to finding the better life you seek. Mark says, "Therapy is not all about the tools of the therapist, about what he or she knows. It is about developing a trusting relationship with a caring professional, which allows you to find out more about yourself. I believe that all of my clients actually possess the resources within themselves to create the life of joy they long for. If someone else listens to you completely, then you will listen to yourself, and you will very likely find the way to create your dream. I believe I can help people fulfill their deepest wishes and I work hard to make it safe to tread that path together."
Mark McGonigle, LCSW, has been trained in several well-researched approaches to mental health and relationship problems. You can read about these approaches below, and if you would like to schedule an appointment to see Mark, you can do so at this link: Set Appointment Now.
EMDREye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from many different treatment approaches. To date, EMDR has helped an estimated two million people of all ages relieve many types of psychological stress. Approximately 20 controlled studies have investigated the effects of EMDR. These studies have consistently found that EMDR effectively decreases or eliminates the symptoms of post traumatic stress for the majority of clients. Clients often report improvement in other associated symptoms, such as anxiety. The current treatment guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies designate EMDR as an effective treatment for post traumatic stress. EMDR was also found effective by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, the United Kingdom Department of Health, the Israeli National Council for Mental Health, and many other international health and governmental agencies. Research has also shown that EMDR can be an efficient and rapid treatment. Scientific research has established EMDR as effective for post traumatic stress. However, clinicians also have reported success using EMDR in treatment of the following conditions:
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Marital TherapyMark provides quality marital therapy, based partly on the the research of Dr. John Gottman and materials developed by him and The Gottman Relationship Institute. In addition, Mark was trained at The Family Institute of Kansas City, completing a two-year course of education and supervision in the early nineties. Mark is also the author of a 5-star iPhone app, Fix A Fight, which is designed to help couples restore their intimate connection after a painful conflict. The Gottman Relationship Institute provides couples' workshops, professional training for therapists, and research-based tools to repair and strengthen relationships. Cognitive Behavioral TherapyCBT empowers people to take charge of their mood and behavior by paying attention to and sharpening their thoughts. Most people who feel bad (depressed, anxious, angry) or act badly (addiction, ineffective relating, crime) do not realize that they have been in the habit of thinking to themselves in irrational negative ways. CBT is based on raising your awareness of your own irrational negative thoughts and developing the ability to change your thinking to positive rational thought. Research has demonstrated that this strategy is effective for a wide range of mood and behavioral issues. To learn more, visit NACBT. SpiritualityMark has a Masters in Applied Spirituality, obtained in 1985 from University of San Francisco. He believes that spirituality offers unique ways to develop inner wisdom, to get in touch with your own WiseMind. The Wise Mind is a concept that has come to the fore in psychotherapy circles. Put simply, the rational mind and the emotional mind are two very distinct aspects of the human experience, operate by different rules, serve different purposes, and are even operating in two different brain systems. Rational and emotional are the thesis and antithesis of our daily lives. There exists a synthesis in the wise mind. It is now known that the highest function of our brain, in the prefrontal cortex, is to blend our emotional experience with our rational. In the experience of our wise mind the best of our thinking and the value of our emotions come together as one reality. The polarity is resolved not by confusing reason and emotion, but by appreciating each in its own realm. Spirituality offers a way to embrace the whole person. All aspects of our being have spiritual meaning and significance and can contribute to our wise mind awareness. In the wise mind there is quiet and clarity. The wise mind has the best chance to formulate and execute a plan that is both reasonable and emotionally astute. That is our profound opportunity for creating a great life. Mark is fully prepared to aid people of all faiths in their spiritual quest. You will be accepted as you are, and your beliefs will be honored. |