Services
I offer many different types of services at Overcoming: Psychological and Relational Therapy Services. Each of these is explained in more detail below.
Trauma Treatment
Are you still struggling with reminders of difficult events from your past? Is your night or day regularly interrupted by nightmares or flashbacks?Do you feel like you can’t connect with other people, or do you feel emotionally numb much of the time? Do you startle at loud noises, or feel on edge most of the time, constantly searching for routes of possible escape?
Therapy can help you to reclaim peace and calm in your life. You can start to see these events in their proper place instead of being in control of your life. You can reconnect with your own emotions and deepen the relationships with others in your life. Even if it feels hopeless, I have hope for your improvement.
I’m a certified provider in Cognitive Processing Therapy, an evidence-based treatment for PTSD, so I generally use this treatment. However, I am also able to work in the areas of trauma treatment through using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for PTSD, Couples’ Therapy for PTSD, and some Prolonged Exposure. My goal is to help clients work through the trauma and put it in its proper place in their life.
Couple and Family Counseling
Life is difficult when your closest relationships are under strain. When you worry that your marriage may be over, it’s often hard to go through the day-to-day. You may be struggling with so much conflict that you’ve just disengaged. You’re not even sure how to talk to your partner anymore. Or perhaps you’re reeling after discovering your partner has been unfaithful.
Your marriage does not have to be this way. You can come to a place of healing in your marriage. You can learn to communicate and really feel that you’re sharing your heart and hearing your partner’s heart. You can come through the difficult time with a marriage that is stronger than it has ever been. I can help you come to the other side of this difficult time.
I have years of experience in couples counseling. I’m a certified on the American Board of Couple and Family Therapy. I’m certified in Hope-Focused Approach to Couples’ counseling, but also have some experience in couples’ counseling for PTSD, Cognitive Behavioral Couples’ Therapy, and some other approaches. I have worked with couples experiencing infidelity and trauma. I am also certified in Prepare/Enrich and prefer this for premarital counseling.
Veterans and Military Families
Are you a veteran or active duty service-member? Are you a spouse to a service member who is currently deployed struggling with life with them on the other side of the world, feeling overwhelmed with missing them and uncertain how you’ll adjust when they return? Has your service member recently returned home, and you’re struggling to reconnect?
You can come to peace with your military service and the effects in your life. You can rebuild your relationship with your spouse and children when you return from a deployment. You can develop a plan for how to stay connected and cope well with deployments as a couple or family. You can heal the damage to relationships from previous deployments by doing things differently this time.
If you’re looking for someone who understands the unique pressures of military life, I may be that person. I’m a veteran, married to a veteran, who was a mental health specialist in the Army and completed an internship in the VA Medical Center. Due to my background with military, veterans, and trauma, I am very comfortable working with these populations. I am also part of the Star Behavioral Health Alliance so have received additional training in working with these populations.
Faith-Informed Therapy
Are you someone whose faith is important to them, central to their life? Are you concerned about your mental health but also fearful about engaging in therapy with someone who might not understand your faith background and how it impacts your day to day life? Perhaps you’ve had a negative experience with another therapist who belittled your faith or saw it as part of your mental illness.
You can feel safe and comfortable in therapy. You can meet with someone with the confidence that they are respectful of and undertsand the importance of your faith beliefs in your life. You can share about how your depression impacts your prayer life and how your negative beliefs about your higher power become more prominent when your anxiety rises.
I have specialized training in working with people that are highly religious in ways that are consistent with their faith beliefs. I often work with individuals whose faith beliefs have a strong influence on their lives. I have often worked with such persons on sexual health concerns, at times with partners and at times separately, depending on whether the issues are related to sexual identity, gender identity, difficulties in the couple’s sexual functioning, or sexual trauma.
Supervision
Are you looking for a supervisor that is competent to supervise you in both psychology and marriage and family therapy? Are you looking for someone who respects you as a professional but can also guide you into improving your skills in specific areas? Are you looking for someone who works with you to develop a plan for improvement in the areas that you’re concerned about? Are you interested in discussing Ethics at a high level? I can currently supervise both psychologists and MFTs in the state of Ohio. I was supervised by someone who is dually licensed, so I’d be happy to do both if someone else is in need. I have a sample contract available that explains more about my approach to supervision. The rates for supervision do depend on many factors, including your level of training and whether you have a work supervisor in addition to a clinical supervisor.
Dr. Heather Poma
I guess we are all experts on ourselves. Perhaps you’re a little curious about me and why I started Overcoming: Psychological and Relational Therapy Solutions, LLC. I started an online only therapy business in 2020 fro several reasons. First, it became much easier to do telepsychology, at the same time that access to regular therapy services was restricted. In addition, with multiple clients in the room, doing therapy with couples or families was seen as even more risky. I wasn’t able to see couples as much as I would’ve liked prior to this time.
There are a lot of benefits of telehealth for me as a therapist. I am able to see clients around the needs of my family. As a mother of young children, that means that I can do paperwork and website design after my children are in bed instead of taking away from family time. I’m able to see clients late nights after their own children are in bed or on the weekends, when both spouses are often available, alleviating some of the stress of therapy for my clients.
To learn more about me and my background, read more below.