The Serenity Springs Counseling & Wellness family: Anne Miller, LPCA, left, Rob Reinhardt, LPCS, and Joanne Lisa, LPCA. Also part of the wellness center, Christy Hawley, LPC, is not pictured here.
It’s true, mental health professionals have a stigma surrounding their line of work. That’s one reason why April is Counseling Awareness Month.
It gives the public the opportunity to learn and understand the differences in the various mental health professions and offers people the proper avenues to seek help if it is needed.
Local counselor and life coach Rob Reinhardt said most people don’t know what they’re getting themselves into when they sign up for counseling. There’s a big difference between what he does and what psychiatrists and psychologists do.
That’s why Reinhardt does a phone interview with clients and spends the first session just assessing the person’s needs and sharing with him or her how coaching or counseling can help.
The stigma of there being a mental weakness when someone talks to a mental health provider is something Reinhardt fights.
“A lot of the stigma is associated with the unknown and fear,” he said.
And calling himself a life coach has helped with that. Coaching is for people that don’t need a medical diagnosis.
Reinhardt has been licensed since 2007, but he received his degree in psychology in 1990 from the University of Florida and has had some role in the field ever since. Reinhardt helped create a support group for sexual abuse survivors.
He later attended N.C. State where he got his Master’s Degree and completed 3,000 hours on an internship.
“They want to make sure you know what you’re doing,” Reinhardt said of the program at N.C. State.
He moved his family to Fuquay-Varina in 2008 and started Serenity Springs Counseling & Wellness, a holistic wellness center that helps with the mind, body and spirit.
Now, he works with a wide range of patients, covering marriage and relationships, depression and anxiety and Asperger’s Syndrome.
“It’s challenging work,” Reinhardt said. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t find it rewarding work.”
Serenity Springs Counseling & Wellness has five therapists and is located in the Teacherage building on Academy Street.
Find out more about Counseling Awareness Month at http://counseling.org. Reinhardt writes for the American Counseling Association’s magazine and he has a blog. Learn more about Serenity Springs Counseling & Wellness at http://www.serenityspringswellness.com.
Contact Kelly Griffith at kgriffith@civitasmedia.com or 919-552-5675.
http://www.counseling.org/learn-about-counseling/what-is-counseling
It includes the accepted definition of counseling: "Professional counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.
And points out how counseling can help people with all sorts of goals in their lives including family, relationship, school, behavioral, educational, career and more. As with our physical health, proactive and preventative care is important with our mental and emotional health as well. Counseling isn't only for those in distress.