Stephanie Adams
VerifiedMA, LPC
Counselor/Therapist
College Station, USA
Answers questions in Anxiety · Christian Recovery · Counseling
About Stephanie Adams
The most important thing I want people to know about me is that I do not view anyone pursuing therapy as a failure or lacking as a person. I view therapy as a collaborative process in which the client is just as important as the therapist! When you are having car troubles, you go to a mechanic. Seeking a trained therapist for life troubles is no different!
I graduated with my M.A. in Counseling from Dallas Baptist University and Oklahoma Baptist University with a B.A. in Family Psychology before that. I completed my 3,000 hours of supervised practice required for licensure at the Family Counseling Center in Fort Worth, TX.
In addition to my work counseling, I also have created a marriage education course called the Premarital Power Seminar. I also mentor new counselors at www.beginningcounselor.webs.com, blog for the American Counseling Association, and have written a book, The beginning Counselor's Survival Guide.
What I do
I help people remove blocks in their life and take action to live out their dreams. I specialize in helping people in transition starting over, especially engaged couples preparing for marriage and individuals overcoming anxiety and depression.
I knew I was meant to be a counselor when fellow students in my college dorm would find me just for the purpose of pouring out their story. I knew then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life listening to others and giving them support and encouragement.
I conduct therapy online via video conference, real-time chat, email and phone at www.stephanieadamslpc.com.
My story
The most important thing I want people to know about me is that I do not view anyone pursuing therapy as a failure or lacking as a person. I view therapy as a collaborative process in which the client is just as important as the therapist! When you are having car troubles, you go to a mechanic. Seeking a trained therapist for life troubles is no different!
I graduated with my M.A. in Counseling from Dallas Baptist University and Oklahoma Baptist University with a B.A. in Family Psychology before that. I completed my 3,000 hours of supervised practice required for licensure at the Family Counseling Center in Fort Worth, TX.
In addition to my work counseling, I also have created a marriage education course called the Premarital Power Seminar. I also mentor new counselors at www.beginningcounselor.webs.com, blog for the American Counseling Association, and have written a book, The beginning Counselor's Survival Guide.
Why life is worth living
Every one of us has a purpose and a reason for being here
Treatment Offered
Specialties
Therapy approaches
Patient population
Modalities
Answered Questions(19)
Depression From Dealing With Cancer
Hello Stephanie, I've been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer which is now recurring at an extremely aggressive rate. The Dr. (Yes, I understand this is a statistical number) indicates that I have between 2-5 years, but then later indicated that since he doesn't have a crystal ball, it could be as high as 5-9 years. So, I'm struggling to come to terms with that. I believe I'm suffering from depression and am looking for a way to deal with the inevitable and the depression in the meanwhile. What would you recommend?
Read answer →Cure for Workaholism
What's the cure for workaholism. I am fed up with my husband and his always being at the office. We have had lots of fights about it in the past but last night I really got angry and I asked for a divorce. My husband was shocked and he swore he could change. I am willing to give him another chance but I think he needs some professional help, but I am not sure of what kind?
Read answer →Can Counseling Help a Pessimist?
Can counseling help a person who has a very gloomy outlook on life become a bit more optimistic? My wife is always looking at the dark side of things and this puts her into a bad mood a lot of the time, and many times it ends up being for no reason.
Read answer →Is My Wife a Hypochondriac?
Everyday there is something wrong with my wife. There is always some sickness of injury that needs special attention. I am not saying she is totally faking it but it is not really believable how often she gets sick or how she can oscillate from perfect health when she is unobserved to serious illness when she notices you are watching her or ask how she is doing. I don’t know how to deal with this. She is a great woman but this drives me crazy. If I ever try to call her on her behavior she goes into meltdown mode. She really loses it, it’s like there is nothing worse I can say than question her sickness. But at the same time it is hard to take her health complaints seriously every day all the time. So I mostly just ignore them…and then whenever anyone else is around and they see me ignoring her health concerns I look the bad guy! What do I do here? I think this is beyond her control and not done intentionally but it is obviously some sort of psychosomatic illness. But how can I help her to get better when she blows up whenever I even suggest that her maladies might not be real?
Read answer →Does Psychoanalysis Work For Anxiety & Depression?
Does psychoanalysis (the Freudian method) work at all for depression and anxiety? I think that I have been anxious and depressed since I was a young adolescent and so I think that the cause of my present day mental illnesses is likely buried somewhere in my childhood – but I can’t figure out what it might be.
Read answer →How Long After Marijuana Use Is It Safe To Drive?
How long does it take after a person smokes marijuana before they can drive safely again? My husband goes over to our neighbor’s house all the time to smoke with his friends and then like an hour later he will be back and ready to drive me and the kids somewhere. He looks OK and he says that after an hour after smoking he is OK to drive. He drives fine and I cannot see any difference but it is still something that worries me. How long should he wait after smoking before he is OK to drive?
Read answer →Appropriate To Give Money To Homeless People?
Should I give money to homeless people on the street? I often do but then I wonder if I am just enabling their addictions.
Read answer →Free Depression Resources
I am depressed and have anxiety and I am unemployed and living with friends. I have no money for any kind of therapy or even for medication but I can’t get work because on most days I can’t even get myself to leave the bedroom. How can someone with no money at all for any kind of treatment have a hope of beating mental illness?
Read answer →Is Premarital Counseling Worth It?
I have been living with my girlfriend for 3 years. We are now engaged to be married. She wants us to get pre marriage counseling. I think it is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of…but if it makes her happy I will do it gladly. For what possible reason would I need to get counseling to learn more about a person I’ve just had spent more than a 1000 days living with and getting to know everything about? Is there really any point in this? I would really like to understand the point and my fiancée is not really able to tell me why it makes sense….especially when we have a rather expensive wedding coming up to pay for.
Read answer →Problems Telling Parents You're Depressed
How do I tell my parents that I'm depressed..? Every time I've tried to tel them before, they just tell me that I'm lying and that all teenagers go through this. I've been told that I'm not worth helping, by my then-therapists, when I was only eight, and so I try my best to hide it. Sometimes, though, something'll set me off and all I feel like doing is going off alone into a corner and crying. I'll admit that I used to cut myself and that I have thought that the would would bebetter off without me. I've been made fun of for the majority of my school life for being either tall, shy, artsy, or smart. That really hasn't helped this whole situation... I've just about giving up on finding help for myself. What should I do?! I just feel so hopeless and helpless...
Read answer →Different Arrangement for Therapy for Alcohol Abuse
I am drinking too heavily and I believe I would benefit from talking to someone about ways that I might be able to drink less. I am not sure why this is but often my good intentions to drink less get subverted by some process that I don’t really understand that gets me pouring into a glass each night without my even thinking about it too much. In the mornings I feel shame and regret but somehow I just keep repeating this process over and over again. I guess I am an alcoholic but I am reluctant to go to an AA meeting. I live in a fairly small town and I have a position of some importance and it would not be good for people to think of me as a drunk. Because of my desire for discretion and confidentiality I was thinking that telephone or internet counseling would meet my needs very well. I think that if I could set up a 5 minute conversation for the end of the work day every day then that might be enough to keep me from drinking at night. I know that therapists usually bill for hour long sessions but I was wondering if you had ever heard of an arrangement that was based on very short daily sessions as needed?
Read answer →How To Give Help When It Has Been Abused In The Past
We are a Baptist family. My daughter is a lovely girl who got involved with some really bad people a few years ago and got pretty deep into trouble with drugs and with a lot of the stuff that goes with that kind of lifestyle. We have tried on many occasions over the years to get her to seek help but she has always refused our offers. It has been heartbreaking watching her age decades in front of our eyes these last 5 or 6 years. Now she is pregnant and says she is keeping the baby (she has aborted 2 in the past). She says she wants to clean up and be a good mom and that she is tired of the drugs and alcohol the unsavory people she associates with. We have asked her to come home to stay with us so that we can take care of her and help her get back on her feet but she says she won’t do that but she will accept our financial support so that she can get a new place and get her life back on track away from her old lifestyle and friends. She says that she has not used drugs or alcohol since she found out she was pregnant 2 weeks ago. We had sworn that we would never give her money again (or goods that she will sell) after seeing how she has always used our hand outs in the past. She is pregnant now and seems sincere in her intentions but I am very reluctant to give her much money, not least because I worry that having a lot of cash on hand might prove too tempting for her to go back to using drugs. It’s not about the money. I would pay it happily if I knew it was going to help. How can I help her get back on her feet when she won’t come back home and when I can’t trust her with money?
Read answer →Tried Everything for Depression
I have had dysthymia since I was 18. I have tried multiple meds, ect, therapy, etc. I think there is no hope.
Read answer →Spouse Reluctant to Move Overseas for Wife's Mission Work
My wife is a nurse and she has an opportunity to do mission work in Cambodia for a three year run. I am an electrician and general contractor and not sure what I’d do but she says that spouses of primary applicants can generally find meaningful volunteer work once in the mission country. We have two children, ages 8 and 11 who would also be coming, but I guess there is an international school they could attend over there, so it would probably be a good experience. My wife has always wanted to do something like this and she really believes she is being called to do it. I could probably leave for a few years and pick up OK once we came back, so there is nothing really stopping me from going. But I really don’t want to do it. I feel so selfish and I haven’t really even told my wife this, but I just don’t want to go. I don’t really like foreign food and hot weather and I am hopeless at learning languages and I also feel like I won’t know what to do with myself over there. I am used to being the family bread winner, so it’s also hard for me to take a second fiddle role, I guess. I know that the organization needs the spouse to be supportive and on board before they’ll sponsor. I know the right thing to do is to just go for it. Maybe I’ll like it and my wife seems to need to do this and it is truly God’s work. But the other hand is telling me it’s going to be a disaster and that because of the way I feel it’s going to really hurt us as a family. What should I do here?
Read answer →Should I Tell My Parents I'm Feeling Depressed?
Hi, I am 16 years old, and not sure what to do. I think I may be depressed or something, but maybe not. I am too scared to tell my parents, in case my problems are normal teenager problems, or I am making nothing into something. I will describe this to you as quickly as possible.. I have periods where I am completely sad for no reason. I have no motivation, and don't enjoy things I used to. I stay up until 2, until I finally can make myself do my homework. I feel hopeless, and often think of suicide. (But I don't actually consider it.) I am extremely irritable towards my parents. I just wish I could lay in bed all day. But I still go through my daily activities, and get good grades in school, and usually socialize. And sometimes I wake up and am completely happy all day. I also have days where I swing back and forth between these two moods. Sometimes the presence of friends makes me happy, sometimes it doesn't. On a bad day, I tried to cut my wrist with scissors (but failed to bleed) because I had heard it would be a release. I've had times like this before. I remember wishing I would die when I was 10. I remember feeling more depressed than I do now when I was 13. But the happy days and moments make me doubt myself. Sometimes I wonder if I am making myself sad. Maybe I enjoy being sad. Maybe I am making this all up in my mind. I am terrified that I am doing this for attention or something. Maybe everyone feels like this, but I am acting this way for attention. This terrifies me. I don't know if my emotions are real or not. Sorry, end of rant... Basically, I want to know if I should tell my parents that I need help. And if I should, what should I tell them??
Read answer →Xanax & Alcohol Addiction
I know I have a Xanax addiction and alcohol problems. I would seek professional help, but I live on an island in Asia and no one here speaks English. Another problem is that in this culture therapy is hard to get because it is looked down upon. I take at least 4 mg of Xanax a day and drink too much-What do you think is the safest way to stop both. Are saunas dangerous? I know I can't go cold turkey, but tapering off and using a sauna be ok? What about a cleanse? Thanks a lot-I am 8,000 miles from home and need help. No one here understands how hard it is.
Read answer →Worried Sick about Friend on Xanax
I have a close friend who is addicted to Xanax and I am very worried for her. My question is should I stress to her the need for her to get help with getting off of this drug. She said she has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder but her last doctor only prescribed 5mg and had her on anti-depressants Effexor(sp) approx. 5 yrs ago...she said that the anti-depressants only made her gain weight so she stopped taking them but continued taking the Xanax. Her Dr said he wanted to ween her off the Xanax ...when the Xanax seemed to help her feel "normal" . When the Dr told her that he was wanting to ween her off the Xanax; she then started to buy them off the street out of fear of not having them. I do not want to be shut off because of my worries and telling her she needs help for this. Just last week the person she gets the Xanax from did not have any for her and she went almost 3 days w/o and it scared the heck out of me. I know you can have serious complications as a result thus is the reason I am searching for answers. Thank You , Worried Sick
Read answer →Can Tequila Make Your Boyfriend Violent?
My boyfriend is a good guy with a good job but sometimes he drinks too much and he has a bad reputation around town as a guy who fights. But he has never been violent with me before and he said that he would never hit a woman. Last night he and his friends were drinking when someone brought over a bottle of tequila. He told everyone that he couldn’t drink it because tequila made him really crazy but his friends wouldn’t listen and they made him do shots because it was someones birthday. They went out for a while and when he came back he was really drunk and I made some little joke about him stumbling around and he just freaked out and he pushed me down and hit me a couple of times. He was really sorry right away and he has apologized to me so many times already. He says that when he drinks tequila he just gets like that and he promised he would never drink that again. My parents want to kill him and they say that it wasn’t tequila that made him violent it is just the way he is. Is tequila something that makes people go crazy like that? I don’t know what to do because I really like him but he really scared me last night.
Read answer →Puppy for Depression
My sister is having a hard time right now with depression and it’s very hard for me to watch. As kids we had a golden retriever that she just loved to death. I mean she really loved that dog and she was the one in the family that spent the most time taking care of him. I am wondering if I should buy her a puppy. She is single and she doesn’t really have anyone in her life right now. I am thinking that if she had a dog to love and to take care of it might help her get her thoughts away from herself and onto the needs of the dog. I am not sure if this is a good idea but I would be willing to take the dog off her hands if it turns out she doesn’t want it. Is buying a dog for someone with depression a good idea? Does my reasoning here make any sense?
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