A SPECIAL WELCOME FROM DR FREEMAN
Lyn Freeman, Ph.D., LPC
Going into therapy will require a leap of faith and trust in me as your therapist. After all, you will probably tell me things so personal that even your doctors or other family members may not know about those experiences or feelings. So, you may wonder who I am and why I do what I do. Those are fair questions. It has always been my nature to want to know about the experiences and feelings of others, to find ways to help them, and to walk that life journey with them. But even more so, I wanted to understand how to help the entire human being-their physical and mental challenges as well as their emotional ones. I was also fascinated with medicine and brain chemistry and completed pre-med courses in college, intending to become a naturopath. Then life circumstances (my own health challenges, including chronic fatigue) and other family needs directed me onto a slightly different path. That path would serve me and my family well, as many of the same conditions reflected in my patient population are the same ones that I have supported (and still do) in my immediate family members-cancer, chronic pain, MS, Ehlers Danlos, cognitive deficits, TBI, and end of life. For these reasons, my path evolved to serve a medically challenged population who need emotional, psychological and behavioral support. This population needs many things that may be different from others seeking therapy. I know that you need to be listened to. But even more important, you need to be heard and understood in therapy delivered by professionals who have lived through these conditions. Your symptoms and emotional pain need to be taken seriously and validated. All our providers and all our staff deal with many of these medical conditions in their own life, and this was purposeful. They will understand your experiences. But more is needed. You need someone who also works closely with your other medical providers and who has a very large toolbox and different therapeutic approaches to offer. Those approaches must be matched to your interests, life conditions and unique personality. I see patients by physician referral only to assure that collaboration occurs between me and your provider. I have also spent a lifetime developing specialized tools for a medical population that are not available in other therapy clinics. Additionally, I have spent years doing clinical research to assure that these tools are effective, and that they can be 'finessed' to comfortably serve a suffering patient population. The other tabs on this website discuss all those tools and the size of my 'toolbox' in detail. They have been put into protocols that assure all the information is consistently available to the patients receiving them, and the providers delivering them. But do not be overwhelmed by this information. Be assured that all of this is presented to you in simple, story-like and example form, as you are ready to receive it. You are given no more than you can comfortably work with and want to work with in any session. Our goal is to reduce stress in every possible way, not to add to it. In addition to those protocols, we also offer several forms of combined therapy, because symptoms and emotional health must be addressed together. Why do I do what I do? I do this because I love to do it. I do this because I receive great satisfaction from seeing others feel better. And I do this because this is where my innate skills and interests lie. The other providers here feel the same. Between the four of us, you have an even bigger toolbox to choose from. We bring different as well as overlapping skills to the table. See the information about our shared practice model. You will 'team' with us. We will bring skill, compassion and understanding to each session. But the work will be yours. And when you improve, that success will belong solely to you. If you feel we are a good 'fit' for your needs, then WELCOME.