Psychotherapy Services

Counseling and Pyschotherapy refers to a variety of techniques and methods used to help individuals of all ages who are experiencing mental health challenges, emotional difficulties, and behavioral issues. Using structured conversation and techniques, our professionals help clients understand their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and how to develop healthier ways to cope with and resolve problems.

At Advanced Counseling and Testing solutions (ACTS), we offer individual counseling and family, marital counseling services and group therapy. Our seasoned clinicians are here to help, as our strong desire to help others shines through in how we treat our clients. We provide services that have been proven to be effective. We make it our mission to help you in every way possible, especially through our sound therapeutic techniques and developing relationships with those we serve within the Lancaster, PA, and Reading, PA communities.

Our Therapy Goals Are:
Improved Mental Health
Reducing symptoms of mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more.
Enhanced Coping Skills
Equipping individuals with tools to manage stress, relationships, and life challenges.
Better Self-Awareness
Gaining insight into one's own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
Personal Growth
Promoting healthier habits, decision-making, and overall well-being.
Explore Therapy Options
Common Issues Addressed:
  • Depression and Anxiety
  • Relationship Conflicts
  • Trauma and Abuse
  • Stress and Life Transitions
  • Grief and Loss
  • Phobias and Addictions
  • Self-Esteem and Identity Issues

Psychotherapy for Children, Adolescents, Adults, and Seniors

Although there are different types of psychotherapy and counseling services, each relies on communication as the basic tool for bringing about change in a person's feelings and behaviors. Psychotherapy may involve an individual, a group, a family, or even multiple families. For children and adolescents, playing, drawing, building, and pretending, as well as talking, are all important ways of sharing feelings and resolving problems.

Psychotherapy is often used in combination with other treatments like medication, behavior management, or working with a school. The trusting relationship that develops between the therapist and patient is also key. This type of trusting relationship and environment encourages individuals to openly share and express their thoughts and feelings, ensuring a deeper and more meaningful impact from the therapy overall.

Psychotherapy supports individuals of all ages—children, adolescents, and adults—by providing emotional guidance, helping to resolve conflicts, understanding feelings and challenges, and exploring new solutions to persistent problems. Therapy goals may be specific, such as improving relationships, reducing problematic behaviors, or enhancing emotional regulation, or they may be more general, like fostering greater self-esteem or alleviating anxiety. There are lots of positive benefits that come once involved in treatment. The duration of psychotherapy treatment depends on the complexity and severity of the issues being addressed.

Life is filled with challenges and growth opportunities, and sometimes those experiences can feel very overwhelming. Children, in particular, are constantly exploring who they are, testing different ways to navigate the world, and searching for love, safety, and joy. Adults, too, may struggle with ongoing or sudden challenges that disrupt their lives, requiring support to regain balance and move forward. Some individuals must cope with difficult circumstances that rob them of peace or joy. In these cases, our role (ACTS) is to provide understanding and assistance, helping all clients process emotions, address challenges, and build a path toward healing and growth.

Our clinicians utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the "Gold Standard" treatment that is research-proven to be effective in treating numerous disorders, including but not limited to: Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar Mood Disorders, Asperger's Syndrome, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD).

What We Offer:

Therapy Treatment Options

Interested In Services? Contact Us Here.
ACTS – Christian Counseling
Christian Counseling
Christian counseling works by recognizing the close connection between a person's emotional or psychological well-being and their faith. It allows clients to bring their whole selves into therapy in order to develop coping strategies that align with their personal beliefs. Christian counseling draws upon the principles of Christianity to help individuals navigate mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, relationship problems, grief, or anger. It is important to note that not all Christian counselors are licensed therapists. While some integrate evidence-based psychological principles into their practice, others may not.
ACTS – cognitive
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy stresses the role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. It is based on the belief that thoughts, rather than people or events, cause our negative feelings. The therapist assists the client in identifying, testing the reality of, and correcting dysfunctional beliefs underlying his or her thinking. The therapist then helps the client modify those thoughts and the behaviors that flow from them. CBT is a structured collaboration between therapist and client and often calls for homework assignments. CBT has been clinically proven to help clients in a relatively short amount of time with a wide range of disorders, including depression and anxiety.
ACTS – dialectical
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is the treatment most closely associated with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Therapists practice Dialectical Behavior Therapy in both individual and group sessions. The therapy combines elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help with regulating emotion through distress tolerance and mindfulness. The goal of Dialectical Behavior Therapy is to alleviate the intense emotional pain associated with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and other conditions.
ACTS -eclectic
Eclectic Therapy
Many practitioners take an Eclectic approach to therapy, drawing upon various aspects of Cognitive Behavioral and Psychodynamic Therapy methods to create their own custom-made approach. Such therapists often work with their clients to create a treatment plan that encompasses different techniques to best address the client's particular problems and to appeal to their sensibility.
ACTS – emotionally
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is an approach to therapy that helps clients identify their emotions, learn to explore and experience them, to understand them and then to manage them. Emotionally Focused Therapy embraces the idea that emotions can be changed, first by arriving at or 'living' the maladaptive emotion (e.g. loss, fear or shame) in session, and then learning to transform it. Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples seeks to break the negative emotion cycles within relationships, emphasizing the importance of the attachment bond between couples, and how nurturing of the attachment bonds and an empathetic understanding of each others emotions can break the cycles.
ACTS – existential
Existential Psychotherapy
Existential Psychotherapy is based on the philosophical belief that human beings are alone in the world, and that this aloneness can only be overcome by creating one's own meaning, and exercising one's freedom to choose. The existential therapist encourages clients to face life's anxieties head on and to start making their own decisions. The therapist will emphasize that, along with having the freedom to carve out meaning, comes the need to take full responsibility for the consequences of one's decisions. Therapy sessions focus on the client's present and future rather than their past.
ACTS – couples
Family / Marital / Couples Counseling
Family and Marital therapists work with families or couples both together and individually to help them improve their communication skills, build on the positive aspects of their relationships, and repair any harmful / negative aspects. Family Therapy is for all ages (ages 3 to Geriatrics)
ACTS -family systems
Family Systems
Family Systems therapists view problems within the family as the result, not of particular members' behaviors but of the family's group dynamic. The family is seen as a complex system having its own language, roles, rules, beliefs, needs, and patterns. The therapist helps each individual member understand how their childhood family operated, their role in that system, and how that experience has shaped their role in the current family. Therapists with the MFT (Marriage and Family Therapist) credential are usually trained in Family Systems therapy.
ACTS – interpersonal
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
Interpersonal Psychotherapy is a short-term psychotherapy in which therapist and client identify the issues and problems of interpersonal relationships. They also explore the client's life history to help recognize problem areas and then work toward ways to rectify them.
There are specific Interpersonal Therapies, such as Imago Therapy, which focuses on intimate relationships. IPT is not to be confused with Transpersonal Psychotherapy, which is the study of states in which people experience a deeper sense of who they are, or a sense of great connectedness with others, nature or spirit.
ACTS – mindfullness
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
For clients with chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and other health issues such as anxiety and depression, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, or MBCT, is a two-part therapy t hat aims to reduce stress, manage pain, and embrace the freedom to respond to situations by choice. MCBT blends two disciplines—Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness. Mindfulness helps by reflecting on moments and thoughts without passing judgement. MBCT clients pay close attention to their feelings to reach an objective mindset, thus viewing and combating life's unpleasant occurrences.
ACTS – motivational
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a method of therapy that works to engage the motivation of clients to change their behavior. Clients are encouraged to explore and confront their ambivalence. Therapists attempt to influence their clients to consider making changes, rather than non-directively explore themselves. Motivational Interviewing is frequently used in cases of problem drinking or mild addictions.
ACTS – play
Play Therapy
Generally for children ages 3 to 11, Play Therapy is a form of counseling that relies on play to help therapists communicate with children and understand their mental health. Because children develop cognitive skills before language skills, play is an effective way to understand a child. The therapist may observe a child playing with toys—such as playhouses and dolls—to understand the child's behavior and identify issues.
ACTS – positive therapy
Positive Psychology
Unlike traditional psychology which focuses more on the causes and symptoms of mental illnesses and emotional disturbances, Positive Psychology emphasizes traits, thinking patterns, behaviors, and experiences that are forward-thinking and can help improve the quality of a person's day-to-day life. These may include optimism, spirituality, hopefulness, happiness, creativity, perseverance, justice, and the practice of free will. It is an exploration of one's strengths, rather than one's weaknesses. The goal of Positive Psychology is not to replace those traditional forms of therapy that center on negative experiences, but instead to expand and give more balance to the therapeutic process.
ACTS – psychodynamic
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic Therapy, also known as 'Insight-Oriented Therapy', evolved from Freudian Psychoanalysis. Like adherents of Psychoanalysis, Psychodynamic therapists believe that bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness promotes insight and resolves conflict. But Psychodynamic Therapy is briefer and less intensive than Psychoanalysis and also focuses on the relationship between the therapist and the client, as a way to learn about how the client relates to everyone in their life.
ACTS – rational
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) offers valuable support in identifying and challenging self-defeating thoughts and actions. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) focuses on present issues, revealing how unhealthy thoughts hinder personal and professional goal attainment. REBT can be beneficial for addressing various negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, guilt, problems with self-worth, and extreme or inappropriate anger. It also aids in changing self-defeating behaviors like aggression, unhealthy eating, and procrastination. REBT utilizes diverse methods and tools, including positive visualization, reframing thoughts, self-help materials, and assigned homework, to reinforce progress between sessions.
ACTS – relational
Relational Life Therapy (RLT)
Relational Life Therapy (RLT) offers strategies to combat marital dysfunction and restore harmony in relationships. Couples—those recovering from affairs, traumatic events, or a lull in passion—can find Relational Life Therapy helpful. To repair discord, the therapist identifies the main conflict upsetting the couples' emotional intimacy. Once the partners see how they both contribute to the problem, the therapist teaches them skills to improve the ways they relate to each other. Couples may see a change in their relationship within three to six months.
ACTS – solution based
Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
Solution Focused Brief Therapy, sometimes called 'Brief Therapy', focuses on what clients would like to achieve through therapy rather than on their troubles or mental health issues. The therapist will help the client envision a desirable future, and then map out the small and large changes necessary for the client to undergo to realize their vision. The therapist will seize on any successes the client experiences, to encourage them to build on their strengths rather than dwell on their problems or limitations.
ACTS – strength based
Strength-Based Therapy
Strength-Based Therapy is a type of Positive Psychotherapy and Counseling that focuses more on your internal strengths and resourcefulness, and less on your weaknesses, failures, and shortcomings. This focus sets up a positive mindset that helps you build on your best qualities, find your strengths, improve resilience and change worldview to one that is more positive. A positive attitude, in turn, can help your expectations of yourself and others become more reasonable.
ACTS – Trauma CBT
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps people who may be experiencing post-traumatic stress after a traumatic event to return to a healthy state. Through the process, this type of therapy will help the individual and their family cope with the emotional and psychological impact of the trauma. It combines elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with trauma-sensitive interventions to address the effects of trauma and help clients healthily process their experiences and work through them in a safe space.

Our Most Requested Treatments:

Anxiety Disorders
(OCD / SAD / GAD)
Personalized strategies and support to help individuals manage symptoms, reduce stress, and regain control of their lives.
Depression
Providing compassionate and evidence-based support to help clients overcome depression and regain a sense of hope and purpose.
Eating Disorders / Body Image
Providing a supportive environment to heal unhealthy patterns, foster self-acceptance, and cultivate a positive relationship with food and your body.
Family Therapy
(All Ages: 3 Years to Geriatrics)
Providing a safe and nurturing space for families to improve communication, strengthen relationships, and work together to resolve conflicts and foster understanding.
Group Therapy
Offering a supportive environment to share experiences, build connections, and grow together on their journey toward healing and self-discovery.
High Functioning Autism / Asperger's
Offering personalized support to enhance social skills, manage sensory sensitivities, and build confidence in navigating everyday challenges.
Individual Therapy
(All Ages: 3 Years to Geriatrics)
Providing a private, supportive space for personal growth, self-discovery, and healing, helping you navigate life's challenges with guidance and care.
LGBTQ+
Providing a safe and affirming space to explore challenges, build resilience, and celebrate identity and authenticity.
Marriage Counseling / Couples Therapy
Offering a supportive environment to strengthen communication, rebuild trust, and work through challenges to create a healthier, more fulfilling relationship.
Trauma / Abuse
Offering a compassionate, healing space for our clients to process pain and traumatic experiences, rebuild trust, and move toward recovery and empowerment.
Meet Our Team Of Specialized
Clinicians and Psychologists
About Us

Children and Adolescent Counseling

For children, counseling is particularly nuanced due to their developmental stages, which may limit their ability to express their experiences fully. Similarly, adults bring their own set of complexities, shaped by years of learned behaviors, patterns, and environments. The counselor must accurately conceptualize the underlying nature of their client's struggles and design a tailored treatment plan that addresses both the problematic issue and the client's unique needs. At ACTS, our skilled therapists and psychologists possess the specialized training needed to assess strengths and challenges while considering each individual's developmental stage and life context.

Children's Challenges Often Fall Into 2 Broad Categories: (Halstead, 2007)
1
First
Problems stem from an isolated, unexpected event, with no significant history of difficulties. In these cases, therapeutic goals often focus on helping the child adjust to the event and regain their sense of security.
2
Second
Problems are more complex, involving longstanding emotional or behavioral patterns with a historical context that can be traced back to earlier points of life and nature of the relational environment in which they live.

For adults, the same principles can apply, whether they are navigating a single life event (grief, divorce, job less) or addressing deeper, chronic patterns of behavior or emotional distress.

Understanding whether an individual’s struggle arises from an isolated event or reflects deeper is essential for crafting effective interventions.

The ultimate goal of therapy, for both children and adults, is to support adjustment, growth, and healing. Addressing core issues is essential not only to resolve current difficulties but also to prevent unresolved struggles from manifesting into more serious problems in the future.

At ACTS, we are dedicated to helping clients of all ages achieve meaningful, lasting change in a compassionate and supportive environment.

As a parent, it can be hard to know when your child's behavior is just a part of growing up or a sign of a bigger issue. There are several things a child and adolescent mental health professional will look at to determine if a child or teen's behaviors are problematic:

  • Is the behavior more intense than it should be?
  • Does the duration of the behavior continue after the situation has passed?
  • Is the behavior typical for their age level?
  • Is the behavior upsetting to your child or other family members?
  • Does the behavior prevent your child from interacting with friends or performing well in school?
  • Is the behavior inappropriate to the situation?
  • Does the behavior happen for no obvious reason?
  • Does your child avoid important social, school, or family activities because of the behavior?

All children are different, and even the most typical child or teen may engage in "problematic" behaviors from time to time, especially when they are tired, stressed, or sick. However, if your child or teen repeatedly engages in inappropriate or unwanted behaviors, consider meeting with a mental health professional.

Many of the behavioral problems or mental health symptoms that can keep children and adolescents from leading happy, successful lives can be effectively treated with evidence-based therapies. With these treatments, psychologists and other mental health providers help parents and children learn how to work and live better with others, and to build the skills and habits that help them succeed in school and in life.

Not all mental health therapies for young people are effective, and some treatment options do not work the same for all behavioral and mental health disorders.
Outlined below are several therapies that have been proven to work. All of the the treatments listed below use techniques that are based on scientific evidence to understand and treat various behavioral and mental health issues in young people.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is directive and collaborative and aims to immediately improve functioning and, over the course of treatment, eliminate suffering. Ultimately, the goal is for the client/patient to effectively learn the principles and strategies of CBT while working with our clinicians so that they may employ newly learned strategies throughout their lives. CBT focuses on changing underlying thinking that drives our emotional state and, ultimately, our behavior. Combined with behavior modification techniques, CBT culminates in positive changes and improvements for clients/patients.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for children and adolescents usually are short-term treatments (often between 6-20 sessions) that focus on teaching youth and/or their parents specific skills. CBT differs from other therapy approaches because it focuses on the ways that a child or adolescent's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors interconnect, and how they each affect one another. Because emotions, thoughts, and behaviors are all linked, CBT approaches allow for therapists to intervene at various points in the cycle.

These Treatments have been proven to be effective in treating many psychological disorders among children and adolescents, such as:
  • Anxiety
  • Behavior Problems
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Depression
  • Substance Abuse
There are differences between Cognitive Therapies and Behavioral Therapies for young people. However, both approaches have much in common, for example:
  • The therapist and the child or adolescent develop goals for therapy together, often in close collaboration with parents, and track progress toward goals throughout the course of treatment.
  • The therapist and client work together with mutual understanding that the therapist has theoretical and technical expertise, but the client is the expert on himself/herself.
  • The therapist seeks to help the client discover that he/she is powerful and capable of choosing positive thoughts and behaviors.
  • Treatment is often short-term. Clients actively participate in treatment in and out of session. Homework assignments often are included in therapy. The skills that are taught in these therapies require practice.
  • Treatment is goal-oriented to resolve present-day problems. Therapy involves working step-by-step to achieve goals.

Types of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) :

1Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses solely on the child or adolescent and includes one therapist who teaches the child or adolescent the skills needed to overcome his/her challenges. This form of CBT has been proven effective in the treatment of child and adolescent depression and anxiety disorders, as well as substance abuse in adolescents.
2Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Parents
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that includes parents in the treatment process has been shown through research to be effective in treating children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. Specifically, CBT that teaches parents techniques to help care for anxious youth, including psychoeducation, individual therapy, caregiver coping, and parent training techniques are especially helpful. In this form of therapy, the parents are involved directly in the treatment of their children and are essentially trained in ways to help them handle their children's fears at home.
3Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Medication
Research has shown that pairing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with psychotropic medications can be effective in treating a child or adolescent's anxiety symptoms or depression. A child's care team will be able to prescribe the right medication if he/she believes it to be necessary in your child's therapy process.
4Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy was developed to help children and adolescents affected by trauma. It is effective in treating PTSD but can be effective in treating other trauma-related disorders as well. It is delivered in the same way as cognitive behavioral therapy—usually short-term is 6-20 sessions with the child and parents present. A session addresses several factors related to the child's traumatic experiences, including behavioral and cognitive issues, depression or anxiety symptoms, improving parenting skills and parents' interactions with their children to help support and cope with their children's struggles.
5Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Paired With Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) is an evidence-based approach that helps adolescents find internal motivation to change behaviors, particularly related to drug and alcohol use. When combined with group-based CBT, it effectively promotes lasting change. MET uses discussion, coping strategies, and motivational interviewing to help teens create and follow a plan to stop substance use. Therapists guide and encourage progress throughout the process, with group-based CBT sessions enhancing outcomes.
6CBT Paired With Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) and Family-Based Behavioral Treatment
In Family-based Behavioral Treatment, parents set examples for their children in changing their own behavior to help their children change their behaviors in the long run. An important component of this type of therapy is the training of parents on child management and problem-solving skills. This integrated therapy has been proven effective in treating adolescent substance abuse.

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