Amy Laing, Intern in Florida
Hello! I'm Amy Laing. My life is grounded in the love I have at home with my husband and children, a source of constant inspiration. I find joy and purpose in our gracious Heavenly Father and I'm passionate about serving in worship ministry at my church. Having been exposed to the unique challenges of military life as a veteran's spouse and spending a season teaching middle school, I've cultivated a deep well of compassion for the diverse circumstances life presents. This fuels my heart for people, motivating me to walk alongside adults, families, and adolescents through the varied seasons of life.
Due to being married to a veteran, I am familiar with the challenges enlistment can present for individuals, families, and marriages. If you are dealing with stress, anxiety, or depression during your partner's deployment, I can provide you with coping strategies, emotional support, and tools to manage the difficulty of separation. Although many people understand why an active-duty soldier may develop PTSD, they may not realize that military life can cause trauma for spouses and families as well. I get it and want you to know that you are not alone if you have experienced symptoms of PTSD such as intrusive memories, persistent negative thoughts, heightened alertness, irritability, feeling constantly on edge, insomnia, nightmares, emotional numbing, disconnection from your emotions, hypervigilance, headaches, muscle tension, or feeling detached from loved ones.
Military life typically involves frequent moves and changes. I understand that multiple relocations and separations impact the entire family. I would be honored to spend time with you, your spouse, and your children in family counseling sessions, facilitating open and effective communication with each other. I want to help each of you express your thoughts and feelings about things such as deployments, relocations, fears for the soldier's safety, sorrow during a parent's absence, the challenges of adapting to new environments, and attachment issues. I want to work with your family to continue building resilience and developing coping skills to navigate the uncertainties of life.
Whether you are married to a service member, active-military yourself, or a civilian, marriage is an adventure that we are all figuring out along the way. Marriage counseling is not solely for confronting problems; it can also enhance communication, strengthen the relationship, and help you navigate life's changes together as a couple. I can equip you with communication strategies for active listening, directly expressing needs, and understanding each other's perspectives even more profoundly. I can also assist you both in developing healthy conflict resolution strategies, ensuring that disagreements are managed constructively and ultimately lead to a deeper bond. Regardless of what we delve into together, I would be honored to support you and your spouse as you continue to grow in loving one another well.
As a Christian counselor, I cherish the opportunity to support other believers while cultivating greater mental and spiritual health. I am here for you, offering a listening ear, providing guidance rooted in Biblical principles, or addressing your mental health concerns. Ecclesiastes 4:9 beautifully expresses the truth that we weren't created to do life alone. Together, I believe we can navigate the joys and sorrows that come our way. Every person is unique and I am committed to being a supportive companion to all who spend time in sessions with me. Let's chat today!
Education
BS - Psychology (Liberty University; Lynchburg, VA)
Pursuing an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (Liberty University; Lynchburg, VA)
Primary Therapeutic Approaches