one-on-one counseling
with tava
It is my goal and honor to gently walk along side you through the pain and trauma, and create space to be filled with joy and love.
With individual counseling you can expect:
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A preliminary free consultation to determine if we are a good fit, and begin to assess your therapeutic goals
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Therapeutic services and protocols tailored to what you are experiencing on your grief journey. This will be based upon my counselor education training, my CEU training courses, and my life experience since my daughter crossed over in 2015.
• Handouts, booklets, website suggestions and worksheets to use as resources or homework when appropriate.
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Please use contact form (to the left) to ask questions and schedule your free consultation.
Cost: $75.00 for a standard 50 minute session, $100 for an 80 minute session
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*I will make need based pricing exceptions. This can be discussed in our initial consultation.
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Please note:
I do not accept health insurance at this time.
Payment is due prior to session and is available through PayPal or Venmo.
Alternative forms of payment are available if necessary.
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Please
ABOUT TAVA
M.A. School Guidance & Mental Health Counseling, Certified Grief Therapist
Bereaved/Shining Light parent to Christina: 6/24/1997-3/5/2015
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Leaning into JOY
Striving every day to Believe and then KNOW, that grief and joy can co-exist.
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And the feeling, the KNOWing, that the Joy of having been a parent to your child is far greater than the sorrow of their physical body's death.
And that your relationship with them, their energy, changes. It grows deeper, becomes different,
continues.
Hello and Welcome!!
My services complement those of my colleague, Mary Bertun. ………….
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I am happy you arrived on this page and hope that perhaps we may spend some time discussing the possibility of working together to create more peace and joy in your life.
I have been led to this precise moment and to meeting you through a means beyond my control, and I am so grateful.
I offer a complimentary, no obligation, 30 minute telephone conversation where we will assess if I am the right fit for you and what you hope to accomplish through our therapeutic relationship.
What follows is a brief explanation of how I arrived here.
More About tava
Originally a native of Wisconsin, I currently reside in Austin, TX with my husband, 7 year old son, and puppy. I also have two older children: a son who is out of college and lives in Colorado, and a daughter who transitioned from this earth on March 5th, 2015 at the age of 17. My greatest joy has been being a mother to these 3 unique, clever, funny kiddos.
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I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and my Master's degree in School and Mental Health Counseling, in Tampa, Florida at Argosy University.
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I began my career teaching elementary school outside Houston, Texas. With the birth of my second child, I traded full time teaching for tutoring and consulting work in the field of education, as well as working on my Master's degree.
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In 2009, with my Counseling degree complete and my children in high school, I began working with adoption agencies and attorneys helping birth parents process their situations and decisions, with my specializations including grief and loss, and substance use and abuse. In addition to this, I performed Child Studies, Home Studies, and Birth Parent Interviews for agencies in the state of Florida.
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None of this experience, training, or education prepared me for March 5th, 2015, when my daughter, Christina, suddenly and unexpectedly ‘moved’ to a different level of consciousness.
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I was catapulted into a spiritual journey which included several specific spiritually transformative experiences including clear messages from my daughter. The journey has taken me to my knees more times than I care to count, but has also led me to many books, videos, afterlife conferences and consciousness retreats, where I have learned way more about life, loss, grief, processing life events, and love than any formal education could ever have taught me.
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I know it sounds impossible, but I have experienced more joy and peace in the past 5 years than at any time prior to my daughter’s physical death.
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I still have rough patches, difficult days and I miss the physical presence of my sweet daughter, but I am blessed to have an ongoing relationship with her and feel so proud to be her mother and still be connected with her.
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My true healing journey began about two months after Christina’s physical death, when I read the book Wolf’s Message by Suzanne Giesemann, and subsequently spoke with her between May and August of 2015.
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When Suzanne learned of Helping Parents Heal she emailed me about the group and I was part of the beginning of Helping Parents Heal, Tampa, FL. To say that this group has been a blessing would be a gross understatement.
This is in large part due to the larger HPH family, consisting of: meetings, online support including resources, online meetings with experts in a multitude of healing modalities, and most importantly, new, special friendships.
When I am with (now on a screen, eek!!) other parents who have children who have crossed the veil, I am able to be myself with people who get it. I feel heard and understood. Our kids seem to bring just the right parents into my life at just the right time.
They never cease to amaze me!!!
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Post Graduate Counseling Specific Training competencies include:
Counseling Grief Clients Certification Training: Functional Interventions
Adoption Competency Training
EMDR Step by Step
EMDR, Clinical uses, (In progress)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Practical Uses
Peter Levine, Ph.D.’s Trauma & Memory Course: Somatic Experiencing Skills
Various Grief and Spirituality/Afterlife themed conferences, seminars, and courses