SERVICES

Belief Focused EMDR and MI consulting, training and technical assistance to individuals and organizations to improve their quality of care and services.

Evidence Based Mental health services in the form of individual, couples, families, and group counseling and crisis de-escalation services.

A safe, compassionate and confidential atmosphere to discuss personal issues and concerns to anyone who is experiencing psychological and emotional distress.

 As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Master Addiction Counselor, I provide services for people with a range of issues, from minor stressors to serious mental illness. These are some of the issues that I work with:
  

• Addiction and Recovery
• Gambling Disorders
  
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Trauma/PTSD
• Work and Career issues
• Stress Management

TRAINING

CONSULTATION

THERAPY

We conduct public and private trainings on Evidence Based Practices, such as EMDR, Motivational Interviewing (MI), NIATx process improvement and crisis debriefings using A-tip and CID. ​

Consultation is available for students, trainees, and interns. Individual and group consultation is provided for those individuals and/or agencies interested in improving and integrating their practice of Motivational Interviewing and/or EMDR into their daily work.  

Agency wide consultation services are available around process improvement using the NIATx model, as well as evidence based related consultation on implementation of practices such as Motivational Interviewing and EMDR. ​​

During your intake and assessment, you will discuss with your therapist what type of treatment you may benefit from (see therapy tab for more details on approaches utilized in therapy).

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), as with most therapy approaches, focuses on the individual’s present concerns. EMDR’s approach, however, considers past experiences are being activated by present or future anticipated experiences.

We also provide the Services below:

 

CBT (COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY)/CALGETS GAMBLING DISORDER TREATMENT

We are an authorized CalGETS provider with specialized training in the treatment of gambling disorders. No cost counseling sessions for problem gamblers and affected individuals in an office setting is available.

​If you need immediate help, please click here.

MINDFULNESS

Relaxation, presence, stress management and experiential awareness to enhance wellness and healing. ​

WHAT IS EMDR?

Listen to Larisa Traga and Dr. Richard Oelberger explain what EMDR is.

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You may also check out this video to understand what EMDR is.

 

WHAT IS MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING?

​Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, guiding style of communication, used to talk about behavior change. An effective guide uses the MI spirit and skills to help people hear themselves talk about the possibilities of change. 

​Anyone who talks with others about behavior or lifestyle change. Professionals in health care, education, social work, counseling and addiction treatment will find MI effective and rewarding in their work. ​High quality MI  training is critical to the process, so the professional can learn and apply skills that have been shown to be effective in guiding people towards change by reducing ambivalence.

​​Why? Because it works! MI began with research by Dr. Bill Miller in the field of addiction treatment as he analyzed attributes of effective counselors. Since then, research has shown that an effective MI conversation can improve targeted outcomes in multiple behavioral domains by helping people reduce ambivalence and hear their own thoughts about change.  MI has been applied in counseling, health care, education, health coaching and business.

​Want to know more? Contact us for research and training options.

​For emergency services, start with calling 911.

If you are unclear about what to do, and you are not going through an emergency, call Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness ACCESS line: 1-888-868-1649 to get information about resources in Santa Barbara county.  
If you live in San Luis Obispo county, then you can call SLO Behavioral Health at: 1-800-838-1381.