Our Services

Therapists are keeping up with this rapidly changing world with the implementation of telehealth counseling. Telehealth therapy allows client’s the flexibility in being able to meet with your therapist from where you are instead of taking the time out of your day to travel to and from the practice. Your counselor will meet you in a virtual waiting room that meets HIPAA standards. Telehealth has proven to work very well with adults and teens as well as pre-teens who are 10 and up. Many children under the age of 10 also take well to the virtual platform, however, these clients will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Neuse River Counseling offers all services via telehealth counseling except group therapy.

Play Therapy

More than just fun, play is a child’s natural medium of self-expression. Play therapy, therefore, allows children to use their natural language of play, with toys as words, to process a wide variety of experiences and feelings, as well as build confidence, self-acceptance, self-discipline, and social skills.  

In Play Therapy: The Art of the Relationship (3rd ed.), Garry Landreth defined child-centered play therapy:

As a dynamic interpersonal relationship between a child (or person of any age) and a therapist trained in play therapy procedures who provides selected play materials and facilitates the development of a safe relationship for the child (or person of any age) to fully express and explore self (feelings, thoughts, experiences, and behaviors) through play, the child's natural medium of communication, for optimal growth and development.

As a play therapist, Erin combines children’s natural language with a therapeutic relationship characterized by acceptance, warmth, and empathy in order to nurture the potential for healing and growth that already exists within child.

For more information about Play Therapy, please click here.

Adolescent Counseling

Are you:

• Frustrated with your teen’s behavior or moods?

• Worried about decisions your teen is making?

• Unsure of how to talk to your teen?

• Afraid your relationship with your teen is declining? 

• Feeling like your teen has become a stranger to you?

If you answered yes to any of these, you may find preadolescent/teen counseling helpful.

Neuse River Counseling offers multiple approaches to counseling teens and preadolescents to best suit the needs of the individual client. Approaches may include traditional talk therapy, group therapy, and activity therapy. Because talking directly about thoughts and feelings can often feel threatening for teens, Activity Therapy allows them to explore their concerns through the safety of a metaphor. Through the distance of the activities, they are free to process and ultimately resolve issues as they present themselves.

Individual Adult Counseling

Whether one comes to counseling as a preventative measure or is in a period of their life where they need an extra level of support, Erin provides a genuine and non-judgmental relationship to help her clients explore their thoughts and feelings to achieve balance and growth. Erin works with her clients to develop a treatment plan and outline agreed upon goals of therapy. At Neuse Rive Counseling we believe in the inherent abilities of the clients and provide them with the environment and the relationship they need to make sense of their past experiences and unlock their potential. Erin’s approach challenges people to reflect upon their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and to consider ways in which the client can identify core problems and find solutions for moving forward.

Parents want the best for their children, and with so much conflicting parenting information available, it can be difficult to know exactly what that means. When seeing clients for play, activity, and teen therapy, Erin schedules regular parent consultations. Not only do these meetings allow Erin to gather useful information and share your child’s progress, but they also give Erin a space to collaborate with parents, prioritizing your specific values and needs in order to help you best guide and support your child or teen at home. 

Erin provides supportive guidance, teaching you some of the same well-researched methods she uses in play therapy to help you guide your child toward more effective emotional regulation, communication and social skills, self-control, and decision making. Erin also helps parents build their relationships with their children to allow for more positive experiences and happy memories for the whole family. Erin knows that experiences from our own childhoods can result in confusion and anxiety about parenting, and helps parents explore their own wounds so that they may move forward as more confident and conscious caregivers. 

Child Parent Relationship Training (CPRT), also known as Filial Therapy, is a program in which parents learn to use some of the same basic therapeutic skills as play therapists. Available in group and individual formats, Erin provides both education and feedback in order to help parents guide their children to more effectively regulate their emotions, control impulses, follow limits, build self-esteem and independence, and feel more secure in their relationships. 

Unsure whether CPRT is right for your family? Ask yourself:

• Do you find yourself yelling at more often than laughing with your child?

• Do you find yourself repeating the same things over and over again and still not feeling heard?

• Do you feel like you have no control in your household?

• Do you often find yourself so frustrated with your child that you say or do things you later regret?

• Do you feel that you and your child are not as close as you’d like?

• Would you like for your relationship with your child to be different?

CPRT is one of the most well-researched parent training programs available. Research has shown that CPRT can:

• Reduce or altogether eliminate children’s behavioral problems.

• Increase parents’ confidence and reduce parenting stress

• Enhance communication and connection between parents and children

• Strengthen the parent-child relationship and the marital relationship

• Increase children’s responsibility and self-control

• Enhance children’s self-esteem

Group therapy extends the healing process from occurring within a one-on-one therapeutic relationship to a larger supportive environment. Facilitated by a trained therapist, group members may process shared experiences and provide feedback and encouragement for one another in a safe, nurturing setting. Group therapy benefits members by providing opportunities for connection, emotional growth, effective communication, and increased self-awareness. An added advantage is that group therapy costs less than traditional therapy since group members share the expense.