SIDNEY – At a time when many people are dealing with anxiety, Emily Sherwood thinks she can help bring some hope to Sidney and the surrounding communities.
Sherwood, a licensed professional mental health counselor, opened Reclaim Counseling last month. Having her own practice in Sidney will allow her to remain in a community she loves while providing a service that she said was lacking in the area.
“You go to a big city and there’s lots of providers and everything, but in these smaller towns you’re kind of limited with who you have,” the Fairlawn High School graduate said. “So I felt that this was a recognized need for our town, and I want to bring that here.
“I’m just here to support our community and help bring a little bit of hope in these negative times.”
Sherwood, who in October earned her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Colorado Christian University, said there is a great need for counseling services. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted people’s lives, which has led to increased rates of anxiety and depression plus more behavioral challenges in children.
“Now with the COVID pandemic, we’re seeing such an increased need and people needing and wanting services,” Sherwood said. “We see an increase in anxiety and depression because of all the uncertainty of what we’re facing.”
The arrival of the holiday season will only add to some people’s feelings of anxiety and depression, Sherwood said. The holidays already are a painful time for many, and the pandemic’s effects likely will add to those struggles.
“That’s fine,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. This is all new to us, not being able to gather with family during the holidays or not the way that we want and not being able to travel to go see people.”
Sherwood is trained to provide counseling to children, adolescents and adults experiencing a wide range of mental health issues.
“We need more people who are willing to not judge and who are willing to kind of help break the stigma centered around mental health,” she said. “So that is something that I just decided I wanted to provide to people, to be here, to let them know that they have a safe place where they can be genuine, they can be themselves and be vulnerable and open up and have someone to kind of work with them on becoming a better version of themselves.”
Sherwood described her counseling process as a collaborative relationship.
She begins with an intake interview during clients’ first session, getting to know the person, identifying the issues they want to address and outlining ways she can help. If they decide to proceed with future sessions, she works with clients to create a treatment plan and set two or three goals they can work on together.
“Counseling is not a one size fits all process,” Sherwood said. “For some people a few sessions is all that they need to get themselves kind of grounded again. And for others it’s a much more in-depth process; it’s a much longer process.”
While everyone’s needs vary, Sherwood strives to always be encouraging and help each patient find the positives in their unique situation.
“I think it’s important to see the person for more than just what’s going on, for more than just the label of a disorder,” she said. “There’s so much more to people than that.”
Sherwood has always loved helping others, she said, and decided she wanted to make that her career while working at Fair Haven. She spent four years working at the nursing home, starting when she was 16, and loved the time spent having conversations with residents and hearing their stories.
She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wright State University then pursued her master’s degree after taking some time off to focus on raising her three children, who range from 3 to 7 years old.
She interned at a community mental health agency but always wanted to have her own practice, which will allow her more flexibility to serve her clients and make her visions come true.
“Sometimes our past experiences kind of affect our present and our future because we just can’t quite let go,” Sherwood said. “And I just want to help people to be able to move on and have that life that they dream of.”
At this time, Reclaim Counseling isn’t accepting insurance. Sherwood can provide documentation so patients can seek reimbursement from their insurance providers. Also, she’s willing to work with clients on an individual basis to ensure they can receive services at an affordable rate.
“I don’t want that to be the reason why someone doesn’t call me or the reason why someone doesn’t seek services is because they’re afraid of the cost,” Sherwood said.
Reclaim Counseling is located at 806 W. Russell Road in Sidney. For more information about Sherwood and Reclaim Counseling, visit https://reclaimcounseling.me/, email [email protected] or call 937-710-4272.
