Redeemed Life Counseling Reclaiming Your Life

RECLAIMING Your Life

by Diane Ciarloni | photo courtesy of Stephanie Southard

Tumultuous times tore through society in recent years. Some families fell apart because of the direction a spouse or other relative cast their political ballot. A pandemic hit, forcing partners into close confinement with one another. Every annoying habit once displayed only now-and-then became a 24/7 spotlight focus. Add children to the mix. Maybe another relative.

Many people fell apart. The backs of camels across the country broke from final straws, not necessarily because of the pandemic or the quarantine or the political upheaval or the annoying habit, but because of those things scratching the scabs covering emotional and mental scars and wounds suffered months or years or even decades earlier.

Many people, even more than usual, felt pain. Fortunately, the social stigma of seeking relief from that pain at places such as Redeemed Life Counseling, LLC in Argyle isn’t quite as intense as it once was.

Described as a place of hope and healing, Michelle Fitzhugh, a practicing therapist of nearly 30 years, founded Redeemed Life in 2018. She has 13 counselors working with her in an environment that utilizes proven, cuttingedge mental health practices such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).

“EMDR changed my entire practice,” Fitzhugh said. “Basically, it’s a method of accessing a trauma, and through eye movement, desensitizing that trauma so it becomes a memory but without the attached pain. It helps us go into the brain’s non-verbal information storage area. All our counselors are EMDR- trained. We also use Brainspotting where therapist and client work as a team to find a target, static spot for the eye to focus. The target spot corresponds with a specific emotional response/incident. Both are considered powerful therapies for rapid, significant progress.

“My heart wants every client here to receive hope and healing from any one of our counselors. Our intention is to honor each person wherever he or she is the moment that door opens. We’re all Christian believers, but that’s not brought up unless a client expresses a desire for spiritual counseling. More people are joining our ‘processing’ groups, where we learn to speak from a place of authenticity instead of emptiness. How, for example, does anxiety make you feel? My dream always was to have a full-service clinic where I and like-minded therapists provide a safe place for people to express their pain and find healing. We want them to feel valued and understood.”

In other words, a place to go for a life redeemed from hurt.