Talk
My person-centered approach recognizes that meaningful and lasting growth and healing is most likely to occur when people “lead the way” in their own therapy. This means applying and adapting a variety of treatment methods to meet your specific needs, circumstances, and priorities, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Cognitive Processing Therapy. I value diversity and working with people from diverse racial, ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic, educational, and religious backgrounds. I welcome the opportunity to help you work through major life transitions, heal from trauma, discover your inner strengths, and recognize your right to self-determination and happiness.
~Maxine Lebel, LCSW
My Passions
Becoming a parent is a significant life transition, and new parents often do not get the support they need and deserve during this challenging period. My experience with children and their families, including facilitating parenting classes, has shown me perinatal mental health and parenting support is essential to the wellbeing of parents, children, and society as a whole. My experience has also reinforced the need to support people undergoing other life transitions, including the death of a spouse or partner, aging out of foster care, coming out as LGBTQIA+, entering young adulthood, and starting college. Working with children and adults has driven home the deep and lasting influence that unresolved trauma has on people’s ability to live full lives, achieve happiness, and be resilient to stress. This has drawn me to focus extensively on trauma-informed approaches to therapy. I also have a strong interest in promoting self-care among those who care for others, which stems from my work with graduate students entering the mental health field, and my own experience with counseling.
THE EXPERIENCE
Deciding to work with a therapist is a huge step– it is a big deal for you to do this, and you deserve respect and compassion for having the courage to move forward in this way. I begin by taking time to really get to know my clients and their unique life circumstances. I provide an accepting, non-judgmental space for them to explore what is most important to them and identify challenges and barriers to becoming their best self. Based on a foundation of trust and understanding, we work together to identify realistic goals for therapy and the best approaches to meet these goals. We also work together to develop new skills and insight, which allows for a happier, more fulfilling life.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
The goal of this approach is to help you increase your happiness and satisfaction by living a life that better aligns with your core values.
- Identify and commit to the values most important to you.
- Identify behaviors and obstacles that conflict with these values.
- Identify and accept limitations that are out of your control.
- Set realistic goals to achieve incremental, sustainable change.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
This approach is based on the idea that making small changes in the way you think can produce meaningful and lasting changes in the way you feel.
- Learn to identify and better understand your emotions.
- Understand the connections between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
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Identify and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns.
Cognitive Processing Therapy
This trauma-focused therapy is a structured course of treatment, usually over 12 sessions, which targets the specific thoughts and thinking patterns that reinforce and perpetuate trauma-related symptoms.
- Identify “stuck points” or unhelpful thoughts that perpetuate your trauma symptoms.
- Reduce your self-blame and increase your self-compassion.
- Complete additional work between sessions to help you maintain substantial, deep-rooted changes in the way you think and feel.
1777 Fordham Blvd. Suite 202-6
Chapel Hill NC 27514
1-888-204-8409
