Sandra Rowe, M.S.E., LPC, after graduating from Henderson State University with a degree in secondary education, she taught high school for 19 years before obtaining her master’s degree in mental health and secondary counseling at HSU in 2002. She then counseled high school students and their families for six years before retiring from education.

When working with clients, she often uses Pia Mellody’s model of codependence, which is a state of immaturity in one of these five areas: Self Esteem (Loving the Self), Boundaries (Protecting and Containing the Self), Reality (Knowing the Self), Self Care and Interdependence (Taking Care of the Self), and Moderation (Moderating the Self). Most people have damage in one or most of these areas. Clients come to understand how old behavior patterns learned in their family-of-origin (FOO) from birth to age 17 and trauma issues keep them stuck and prevent them from growing and strengthening their Functional Adult, which is essential for successful relationships and a satisfying life.

She especially enjoys working with couples where she incorporates Pia Mellody’s model of codependence with Terry Real’s Relationship Empowerment Therapy (RLT). She examines family-of-origin issues to show the couple how they were “set up” for their present behaviors that are no longer working for them. She helps them process how they got to where they are, teaches tools to improve themselves, and empowers the couple to make their relationships work better.

Her treatment approach often includes Cognitive Behavioral, short-termed therapy to help clients see how their thoughts dictate their feelings (moods), which, in turn, directs their behavior. She teaches clients how to track and interrupt their dysfunctional or irrational thoughts to work through unresolved issues and to improve their lives.

There is homework given between sessions that ranges from reading books, listening to CDs, journaling, medical consultations, attending AA or Alanon, or attending a specific workshop that furthers growth and healing.