Meet Larry Westenberg, MSW, LCSW, MSEd.
While many therapists, counselors and coaches offer different types of support, nowhere else can you find the uniquely effective mix of treatment available to you at Way Beyond Counseling & Coaching
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Please note that I do not accept insurance of any kind.
Why is no insurance accepted?
Due to the current COVID situation, only Telehealth services are available.
Sessions of 60-minutes are $90.00.
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I Offer a Unique Blend of Rapid-Change Therapy Techniques
Mr. Westenberg combines these tools together into a unique program called, "Human Animal
Behavior
Training(sm)" or "HABT(sm). HABT shows you how to combine
specific rapid-change
technologies into a powerful yet simple sets of techniques.
Mr. Westenberg has multiple certifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) including Certified Trainer,Master Practitioner and numerous other advanced NLP certifications. He has practiced and studied applications of NLP to counseling and coaching since 1991. While some therapists have studied different techniques available from NLP, Mr. Westenberg's continuous study of this field has taught him to develop his own methods and techniques that are specifically customized for each individual to maximize their effectiveness.
Mr. Westenberg writes, "NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming treats every problem as if the brain were a computer making an error in programming, much the same way as a computer programming error causes problems and unexpected results in a computer. The focus is on patterns of behavior, and learning new ways of thinking about yourself and your "issues" - as in how they could be very different than what you think they are now, and why they make sense! Perhaps you have internal conflicts that keep you from doing things you want to accomplish? I know a number of techniques that involve no blaming, and simply help you clarify your skills, capabilities and beliefs that either could help you accomplish - or keep you FROM accomplishing your goals.
I teach skills and techniques that can change your life by teaching you tiny steps you can take every day to make your life a more enjoyable experience."
You know it is time to call me if/when:
1.) You feel you are not "moving forward" with your
life, and are not sure why.
2.) You are considering medication, but it is not quite that bad. (Lack of
enjoyment, mild
depression, vague emptiness...)
(I am not
adverse to medication, in fact, in some cases, I might lean a little in favor of it.
I am telling you up front so that if
medication is going to be a topic,
you know what my leaning/prejudice is. I know some outstanding psychiatrists I can refer
you to IF I think this is needed. I also can teach you ways to help you manage your symptoms more effectively, whether or not medication is involved.)
3.) You are not having fun in your life anymore, and you don't know what to do to
"have" fun again.
4.) You want support to specify and implement some kind of big change
you are considering in your life.
5.) You are curious about what "brain programming" is and how it can help you do something better or more effectively.
6.) You feel like your life has lost "meaning" - whatever that means for you.
7.) You know yourself well enough to know that you honestly do not DESERVE low
self-esteem, but you inherited it anyway.
(To jump to applying for a session, click
here!)
How What We Do Is Different -
When using the methods and models of NLP, there are several major differences than the approach used in traditional therapy. Here are just a few of the differences in the "mindset" of NLP-based therapy and therapists:
1. People are never sick or broken. Instead, people make "maps" of reality inside of their heads and they respond to these maps, not to reality itself. These internal maps are made up of pictures, sounds, feelings, tastes and smells - stored "sets" of information from our five senses. When you help them change their internal maps, they can change their feelings, thinking and behavior. People work perfectly to produce the results they are getting. When you introduce more choices into their maps, they begin to have more choices in the thinking, feelings and behaviors.
2. People can learn to do anything. They just need to break the change down into small enough steps to accomplish the tasks and changes. They can also "borrow" skills that other people have developed by learning to adopt other people's maps. People have all the resources they need to develop. They just need assistance in gathering, implementing and utilizing their resources in the context where they are trying to make changes. We all have areas of our lives in which we thrive, and other areas where we would like to improve. Often this involves transferring skills and resources from different contexts, and anchoring them into the areas we wish to change.
3. People have amazingly unique minds that are flexible, powerful and delightful. They often lose perspective and over-emphasize problems, or they forget about all of the resources and abilities they have already created. By learning how to strategically control their thinking, feelings and actions they can make MASSIVE changes in the way they experience their lives.
At Way Beyond Counseling & Coaching, LLP, we help you to identify and clarify the genuine values that are behind ALL of your goals and accomplishments. We also uncover conflicting values, and utilize advanced NLP techniques to resolve your internal conflicts. An amazing amount of energy is freed up and available when these internally conflicting values are suddenly aligned into a happily negotiated synergy. We then strategically expand your awareness of these values so that you can experience how your work, your family life and your goals all stem from your beliefs and values. This makes for very clear directions of change and growth - with a great deal of accompanying motivation! We then work with you to develop a customized system that will help you enact the changes you are seeking in your life while respecting other people and the various domains and demands of your larger, whole life process. Additionally, we add in a "warning system" so that when you make choices that violate your values, you are much more aware of it. (This allows you to be on a diet and occasionally eat ice cream, without destroying your goal of weight loss - or take a day off from exercising without giving up on your health goals!)
This process can be applied to a multitude of areas, including career development, weight-loss, learning goals, relationships, changing moods and thinking patterns, enhancing abilities and accessing both internal and external resources more effectively - all types of different desired changes and accomplishments. Additionally we help you to build and develop tremendous internal resources so that when challenges arise, you will automatically apply your new resources to overcome those challenges, change them, or even enjoy them!
NLP has been utilized to help athletes achieve peak performance, help people get over traumas and phobias, help business and sales people accomplish incredible improvement in their productivity and accuracy, help politicians and public speakers improve their impact and help individuals make enormous personal changes that have been proven to last a lifetime - not just "get them out of a slump." This powerful technology is often ridiculed and designated "ineffective" - because quite frankly, it is COMPLICATED! It is not something you can learn from a book, or "get" in an introductory class or lecture. It takes a LOT of time to learn, practice and develop the large collection of skills that EFFECTIVE NLP interventions require. Most therapists believe they already have all the skills they need, and are not willing to invest the time and energy it takes to truly master how to apply NLP techniques. Mr. Westenberg has put in this time and practice in a variety of different therapeutic/clinical and business settings, and is now available to work with individuals who are serious about improving the quality of their lives.
Call 630-663-8914 for additional information, or to schedule a session.
Find out how easy and enjoyable it can be to change your life!
Standard Therapy Techniques -
In standard counseling, the therapist often helps a patient uncover underlying causes of problems in the hope that this insight as to why they are "broken" is supposed to help them to change and "heal" their "illness." This is the model that calls the person a "patient," rather than a client or fellow human being. The patient is "sick," and the therapist helps them to "get well." This is one of the reasons that medication has been an accepted form of treatment for many problems that are not actually related to chemical imbalances.
In more recent times, therapy often aims to help a person uncover their options, and helps them to choose a course of action. IF the person takes the chosen course of action, sometimes change occurs. Ordinary counseling does not take into account how difficult it is for people to change when the change will impact their family, their work and the larger whole of their life. Regular counseling also offers no additional resources or skills for facilitating change, assuming that if the client is "motivated," they will make the change happen themselves "when they are ready." This is a cop-out! It is also a reason for the therapist to keep recommending more and more and more sessions. When the patient does not do what the therapist recommends, the therapist quickly labels the patient as "resistive." (This ALSO means you will need more sessions.) While therapists claim that they do not influence their patients, they often provide tremendous pressure for patients to change in a way the THERAPIST thinks is the best course of action. Often the therapist is completely unaware of the things they are doing to pressure and influence the patient to do what they want them to do, and will deny using any kind of "influence" on their patient. To the trained observer, a multitude of influence techniques are present, despite the therapist not being aware of them.
In standard coaching, the coach helps an individual set goals for different domains of their life, and asks the client how they can improve by "one notch" in different areas of their life. The client then develops a plan to make "small steps" to achieve their goals. Often in coaching, a simple combination of supportive checking-in plus having a person pay for the encouragement results in change. While this is more than just a bit of an oversimplification, it is also not that far from the truth! Very often coaching is extremely effective in getting people (notice - not called "patients!") to change, often because every meeting with the coach costs the person money. This greatly increases the person's motivation to make the change! It also is a focus on making specific changes that the person has chosen for themselves, and thus the plan has come from the person - not the coach. The coach simply questions the person about what change they want to make, and then reminds them of their own prescribed plan and asks them if they are taking the appropriate steps. This can be a very effective way of helping people change.
What are you waiting for? Contact us here.
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