How accessible is your Appleton area therapy room?

Stangler Counseling Services’ main therapy office is located on the second floor of the building with elevator access. If you have accessibility requirements, please call today so that we can make sure you feel comfortable getting to my office.

What’s your therapy approach, and what does it mean to someone seeking individual counseling services?

Tara, at Stangler Counseling Services, is primarily a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist. As a Licensed Professional Therapist, Tara does not limit her therapy work to one therapy approach so that she can best serve her Appleton area therapy clients. This means:

• Tara offers counseling services uniquely tailored to you and your needs

• Tara draws on many therapeutic traditions including process models of change, person-centered counselling, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), EMDR, and mindfulness.

• Tara uses evidence-based interventions

• Tara works with the whole person and their social context, a humanistic and sociologically-informed perspective

What sort of issues do you work with?

Fox Valley based therapist, Tara Stangler,  works with all kinds of mental health issues; Stangler Counseling Services believes that everyone is different.

Tara Stangler, Licensed Professional Counselor located in Appleton, has experience of working with these common issues that people often bring to therapy: abuse, anger, anxiety, being socially marginalised and oppressed, bereavement, body-related issues, break-ups, bullying, problems with community, confusion, depression, dealing with stigma, oppression and discrimination, fear, feelings of being different or of struggling, sadness, problems with friends and family, feeling unfulfilled, feeling stuck, general emotional pain, getting older, hopelessness,, identity issues, illness, isolation, loneliness, loss, love, low self-esteem, financial problems, obsessions, problems concerning eating, relationships, self-harm, sexuality, stress, suicidal feelings, transitions, trauma, getting triggered, unresolved problems, wanting to find some meaning in life, work and many more. Tara is here for you.

If I feel that I do not have the competence to work with a particular issue, I will say so and do my best to refer you to someone who can.

What do your Appleton area therapy clients say about you?

Tara of Stangler Counseling Services asks for feedback during sessions to make sure that she is working effectively.

Appleton area therapy clients may not want to tell anyone that they go to therapy. Aside from this,  there are ethical reasons not to solicit testimonials from clients; with that said, it is quite difficult for people to say publicly what it is like working with Stangler Counseling Services. However, sometimes people are generous and offer comments that they are comfortable with being made public after we have finished being therapist and client. 

Psychology is a big field and different kinds of people can be called psychologists. My own counseling and psychotherapy training took place within psychology departments in educational institutions, for instance.

Psychologists involved with talking therapies and psychiatrists tend to come from a medicalized background and are concerned with diagnosing and evaluating mental health, and treating it. Psychiatrists and some psychologists’ titles are able to prescribe medication and treatment.

Some psychotherapists and counselors may also have backgrounds in psychology and psychiatry, but generally we come from different traditions, and these are not necessarily medical. As a therapist I can diagnose people but don’t have the authority to prescribe treatment or drugs. Although I can diagnose, I choose not to submit to insurance companies to avoid such diagnoses on your medical record.

Will you talk about me in public or use our sessions as source material?

No. Everything we do together is confidential. 

Does what we talk about in therapy remain confidential?

Confidentiality is one of the most important components between a client and psychotherapist. Successful therapy requires a high degree of trust with highly sensitive subject matter that is usually not discussed anywhere but the therapist's office.   Every therapist should provide a written copy of their confidential disclosure agreement, and you can expect that what you discuss in session will not be shared with anyone. This is called “Informed Consent”. Sometimes, however, you may want your therapist to share information or give an update to someone on your healthcare team (you’re your Physician, Naturopath, Attorney), but by law your therapist cannot release this information without obtaining your written permission.

However, state law and professional ethics require therapists to maintain confidentiality except for the following situations:

• Suspected past or present abuse or neglect of children, adults, and elders to the authorities, including Child Protection and law enforcement, based on information provided by the client or collateral sources.

• If the therapist has reason to suspect the client is seriously in danger of harming him/herself or has threatened to harm another person.

I will go over all of this with you during our initial session in case you have any additional questions.