Counseling
Join Ellen Peterson and her staff of certified social workers for an individual or couples session that may include traditional talk therapy, or brief therapy in a warm and confidential environment. The waiting area alone invites you to begin your process of healing and transformation with the experience of relaxation and reflection. Appointments are available on a first come-first serve basis, Monday through Thursday from 10am to 7pm and Fridays 10am to 5pm. Evening appointments are available with certain staff but are limited. Insurance plans that may be accepted include United HealthCare, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Indemnity and Aetna. Persons using Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance as well as other insurances pay at the time of session and are reimbursed directly in accordance with their specific plan. Insurance companies often do not cover hypnotherapy or breathwork sessions. Availability of appointments may be limited at times.
Don’t struggle alone. Experience relief from symptoms of depression, anxiety, grief/loss, relationship issues, stress, career issues and life transitions. Learn how to live life fully and authentically.
2024 Fees
$150 individual
$160 couples/joint
Hypnotherapy $200 (80 min)
Breathwork $200
Life Coaching $160
Ask about our 3 session guarantee!
Accepts some insurance plans including Aetna, United Healthcare, and BCBS Indemnity. We are out of network with Excellus and Empire. Although we are happy to submit claims on your behalf, when possible, payment is expected at the time of service. Your plan may require you to meet a yearly deductible. We are opted out of Medicare.
Other Services
Avenues offers Individual, Marriage and Joint Counseling to adults (18 and over) to move you forward in your living.
The key to living life fully…
Hypnotherapy is a specialized technique that integrates the support and awareness of psychotherapy with the powerful and effective use of hypnosis. Hypnosis is a relaxed state in which the body and mind are at ease to allow the patterns held in the subconscious mind to surface and to be healed. For instance, if a person has struggled for years with depression, a single hypnotherapy session can identify and explore the source of the feelings which are underlying the depression and begin the healing process. Hypnotherapy allows a person to heal the negative emotions that often become trapped within a person at the subconscious level, thus continuing patterns despite conscious effort. Patterns are typically repeated until healed at the subconscious level of the mind.
Most people fear hypnosis or hypnotherapy as they associate hypnosis with stage hypnosis. They are afraid of “quacking like a duck” or of saying something without conscious awareness. In other words, they are afraid of being out of control and being at the mercy of the facilitator. Hypnotherapy is nothing more than a wonderful feeling of deep relaxation and letting go so as to engage in powerful healing work. Your conscious mind remains present and therefore, you are always aware of what you are saying and experiencing. In fact, you have the ability to stop the session at any time if the situation feels too unsafe to manage at that time. Hence, you are in control of your own emotional healing.
The benefits of hypnotherapy are immeasurable. The resolution of fears, anxieties, guilt and numerous other feelings and issues are accomplished in a timely manner. In comparison to traditional forms of talk therapy, Hypnotherapy generates transformation and healing in as little as a couple of sessions as opposed to months and years of other therapies. Hypnotherapy benefits everyone, including the most resistive to relaxation. Hypnotherapy can help you to resolve panic attacks, sleep disorders, depression, PTSD, and physical ailments. It is also beneficial in healing relationship issues such as fear of intimacy, emotional and physical abandonment, hurt, and grief/loss.
Individual hypnotherapy sessions are 80 minutes in duration and include an induction of relaxation, emotional release work and a powerful healing process. The cost is $200 per session and may be partially or entirely reimbursed by your health insurance plan.
Give yourself this powerful gift of healing…
The process of metamorphosis…
BreathWork is similar, and yet different, from hypnotherapy. Both processes are more beneficial than typical forms of talk therapy as they bring people quickly to deeper levels of healing. Both processes are tremendously powerful. Breathwork, however, uses the breath to move a person through the process of healing. The Breath is symbolic of life. The breath connects you to the life force energy quickly and easily and fosters awareness at both the conscious and subconscious levels. The breath is a powerful instrument of healing and change. Yet, most people breathe incorrectly. Some people hold their breath without conscious awareness, which leaves them prone to emotional and physical breakdowns. Most people limit their breath in some form or another, thereby limiting their ability to live life fully.
Breathe deeply and live fully.
The breath represents the elements of giving and receiving. Some people are more comfortable at giving than receiving and this tendency may have its origin in the way in which the person breathes. When a person breathes, they may find it more difficult to either inhale or exhale. The natural breath takes a minimal effort to inhale and the exhale takes care of itself. How you breathe and the degree to which you feel comfortable breathing can say much about your ability to manage and cope with experiences in life. Holding the breath is a tendency to hold things in control. The shortness of breath is cutting you short of life’s experiences and positive emotions. Your personal breathing patterns can reveal much about your ability to take in life. You inhale and take in all that you can in life. You exhale and release that which no longer serves you. Imagine if you held onto everything, every person, and every experience you have had until this point in your life? How would you ever have the room or capacity to take in more? And in fact, if you can only take in so much to begin with, than life is compromised even more.
Breathwork allows you to experience and integrate greater healing of physical, emotional and spiritual issues. The breath allows the body, mind and spirit to heal in ways you cannot consciously imagine. The breath is the natural process of purifying the mind as well as the body. The body tends to become acidic under daily stressors and is at greater risk for illness and dis-ease. Breathwork sessions have been known to change the bio-chemistry of the body from an acidic state to an alkaline state, which decreases vulnerability to illness. Breathwork sessions are miracles in the everyday world. You will see and feel transformation taking place within you, which then begins to manifest in the physical world. Changes occur at all levels, including at the cellular level of a person’s bio-chemistry makeup. Breathwork clients have often commented on the differences they see when looking at themselves in pictures. Transformation looks and feels different. In the weekend programs, breathwork and hypnotherapy are used in conjunction with one another. Together they are an unbeatable team in the process of transformation and healing. BREATHE Life…
The cost is $195 per session and may be partially or entirely reimbursed by your health insurance plan.
Teletherapy Sessions: Avenues Counseling Center is pleased to offer telephone and teletherapy sessions Monday through Friday for your convenience. The link for each provider is:
Life Coaching offers the opportunity to identify, develop and execute goals for your living. Do you want to find the ideal career, improve finances, or start a business? Life Coaching helps you to find and follow the course to greater happiness and success. Please note that it differs from counseling and is not reimbursable by health insurance.
