You’re intelligent, empathetic, and self-reliant. Life is good – on the outside. Yet at your core, you feel like there’s something wrong with you, that you’re fundamentally flawed. Something is keeping you from being happy and confident, but you don't know what it is.

Or maybe you do. We come into this world with our self-esteem intact. Somewhere along the line, we get programed to believe we’re not good enough. This programming is often the result of painful childhood experiences: abuse (physical, sexual, or emotional), neglect (physical or emotional), or any kind of stress that exceeds our ability to cope. Even seemingly minor put-downs, if repeated often enough, can be traumatic.

If you experienced trauma as a child - even if it seems insignificant now - you might be:

• Overreacting to things that would seem minor to anyone else
• Unable to trust
• Avoiding anything that reminds you of the pain
• Criticizing yourself too harshly
• Unable to feel the full range of normal human emotion
• Having difficulty establishing true connection even though you have lots of “surface” friends
• Self-medicating with substances or unhealthy behaviors
• Minimizing what happened
• Minimizing your problems
• Blaming yourself
• Experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and other mental health concerns
• Feeling empty

Maybe you've been in therapy before but it hasn't helped. Talking about it logically tends to be ineffective for this kind of thing. Maybe there are just no words.

I’m Beth Main, a professional counselor licensed in Maine and Pennsylvania.  My areas of specialty include childhood trauma (in adults), and Adult ADHD / ADD. There's a lot of overlap between the two. My other website, adhdsolutions.net, describes my ADHD-related services in greater detail. I also work with couples where one or both partners have ADHD or a history of trauma. And, I'm a board-certified Life Coach.

Some of the approaches I use include:

• Eye Movement Desensitization and  Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) / Tapping
• Matrix Reimprinting
• Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (using the Natural Lifemanship model)
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Mindfulness and somatic exercises
• For ADHD: Coaching and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Sessions can be held online via video-conference if you are anywhere in Pennsylvania or Maine. Or come see me at my Phillips, Maine location, where I also offer therapy intensives, nature therapy, and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. If you're ready to work on your stuff at a deeper level, contact me to schedule your free consultation to see if I'm the right therapist for you.

Let me help you see the brilliance that I see in you.