Therapist Stephanie Sholtz Photo

Stephanie Sholtz

Stress, Anxiety Addictions Trauma, Abuse Self esteem, Motivation
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About me

Stephanie has been working as a therapist since February of 1999 and is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Minnesota. In that time, she has worked in a variety of settings including clinical, intensive outpatient, community mental health, crisis/trauma counseling, in-home therapy, correctional mental health, and addictions. She has worked extensively with children over the age of 5, adolescents, and adults. Stephanie has experience and training working with many issues including depression, anxiety, panic disorders, flashbacks, relationship issues, past abuse issues, spiritual issues, codependency, and anger management.

Stephanie has a bachelors degree in music therapy from Nazareth College in Rochester, NY and a masters degree in clinical/community counseling from Eastern University in St Davids, PA. After completing her master's degree she took additional courses from the Master of Divinity program at Southern Christian University. She has also received additional training in trauma therapy, play therapy, spiritual issues, and co-occuring disorders. She is currently working on a PhD in counselor education and supervision from Liberty University.

Stephanie also speaks about mental health and developmental issues. She has led workshops, taught classes, and written newsletter articles for the Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church on topics related to mental health; those topics include an overview of mental health issues, working with mental health issues in the church, dealing with seasonal affective disorder, spiritual bondage, stress management, and parenting/developmental issues. She also trained leadership on mandated reporting issues and issues related to suicidality. Stephanie recently gave a training for officers at the Goodhue County Adult Detention Center on mental health issues in correctional settings. She has also written a self-help booklet titled "Daughters without Fathers" for women struggling with issues related to having a physically or emotionally absent father.

A Note from Stephanie
There are many different ideas about mental health issues and the counseling process and each counselor has their own approach to working with people. I'd like to share with you a little of what I believe about this process. First, I believe that you will always know yourself and your needs much better than your counselor will. Which means that my role is not to identify your problems for you, but rather to help you identify and work through your problems. We will work together to address the things causing you pain, relationship issues, or other problems in your life. I am passionate about helping people find freedom and healing from past wounds so that they can stop repeating patterns that have created larger wounds and broken relationships. I believe that there is healing from emotional pain. However, healing comes as you invest time, hard work, and emotional energy into the counseling process. Throughout this process, I will do my best to provide you with a safe place to talk about your feelings and experiences. I will also at times provide tools for you to use, offer guidance, or point out possible connections. Ultimately this is your process and the process will look a little different for each individual.

I am also passionate about helping heal broken relationships, whether they occur in families, households, businesses, churches, or communities. Too often others hurt us (or we hurt them) out of their (our) own issues and wounds. The saying "hurt people hurt people" is very true. We tend to take things personally and as our wounds grow, we begin to hurt more and more deeply. Over time, painful rifts can develop between family members, neighbors, or church members who used to genuinely care about each other. As this happens, we tend to lose sight of the original source of the wound and don't know how to heal the rift. As an outside facilitator or mediator, I can help find the source of a rift so healing can begin and relationships can be restored.

I also see myself as an advocate for emotional and spiritual health. Our society often views those with mental health issues or strong emotional responses as weak or incompetent. The truth is that God created us with the entire range of emotions, which serve real and important purposes. It is not realistic to expect to feel good all the time, nor is it wise to make decisions based solely on emotion. Learning to recognize and validate our feelings helps us regulate and tolerate those feelings that are uncomfortable. This in turn helps us to choose when to act instead of always reacting based on feeling. My hope is that as each of us learns to cope better with our feelings and have healthier interactions with others, our community will grow stronger and healthier as well.

Stephanie

Professional experience

15yrs in practice
Stress, Anxiety Addictions Trauma, Abuse Self esteem, Motivation

Additional areas of focus: Relationship issues, Family conflicts, Grief, Eating disorders, Parenting issues, Anger management, Bipolar disorder

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