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Autum Yarger, LMSW
Meet Autum Yarger, LMSW
Autum is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) who helps adults, teens, children, and families. She can work with adults in individual therapy as well as children, teens, and parents in individual or family therapy. Below are descriptions of treatments for teens, children, and families. Autum is under the supervision of Lexy Howell, LMFT.
- Location: Cedar Rapids (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday), North Liberty (Thursday), Telehealth any day
- Insurance: BCBS/Wellmark and Private Pay
- Ages Treated: 5 and older
- Therapies: Individuals and Families
- Schedule: Tuesday (9AM - 5PM), Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9AM-4PM
Challenges I Treat Through Counseling & Therapy
- Childhood abuse
- Anxiety, Panic, Stress
- Depression, Low Mood
- Family Conflict, Parenting Issues
- Suicidal Ideation, Hopelessness, Helplessness
- Lack of Coping Skills, Low Self-Esteem, Chronic Self-Doubt, Insecurity
- Feeling bad about yourself, like you let others or yourself down.
- Being nervous, worrying, doubting yourself, lacking confidence or self- esteem
- Having conflict with your children or disagreements with your partner about how to parent
- Feeling unaccepted by others, lonely
- Feeling you can’t be yourself
- Feeling emotionally worked up, overwhelmed, confused, or uncertain about how to deal with your problems.
- Social, Emotional and Behavioral challenges in children and adolescents
Counseling and Therapy in Cedar Rapids and North Liberty
“If you’re reluctant to get therapy because you’re uncomfortable opening up about your problems or you feel like your problems are so big they can’t be fixed, I understand. Those feelings are normal for people trying therapy for the first time or starting with a new therapist. I’m here to listen to you and help and guide you in the way that you need. The most important thing in our work is that you feel comfortable so you can open up and share your biggest challenges without fear or shame. Feeling safe and understood is the building block of our work.
After you feel safe, I will help you take steps to improve your problems. I use a strengths-based, trauma-informed approach. This means that I will understand your problems as well as focus on the strengths you may be overlooking right now. Through our discussions, I will uncover what you may have never realized about your personality, your coping strategies, or the way you relate to people. Strength-based counseling doesn’t mean just being positive; it means carefully finding the core abilities that you have forgotten or that you have never developed.
I also use an approach called cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Cognitive behavioral therapy helps people to identify, understand, and change the negative thinking patterns that lead to depression, anxiety, helplessness, negative relationship patterns, and other problems. In our therapy sessions, I will help you to understand what self-perceptions and other beliefs are causing your emotional reactions and negative behaviors. Then we will identify more realistic ways of thinking.
Many people think cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is just positive thinking. It is not. It is realistic thinking. I will never tell you to just think positively about a bad situation or trauma. Changing depression or other problems is never that simple, and if it were, you would never need therapy. I will help you to find a better way to think about yourself and your emotions. That could mean that we replace a belief like “I am a complete failure” to “I’m not perfect, but I do many things well.” I might also identify what is true in your negative thinking and identify steps you can take to address this.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is also about changing behaviors. For example, if you don’t have friends because you have avoided people, I would recognize that and then help you understand the patterns that have led you to avoid social interactions. Then we can think about the behaviors you need to learn and the small steps you need to take to learn these new behaviors. In CBT, changing your thinking and your behaviors go hand in hand.
If you’re not sure how to deal with your problems or you want support in this difficult time, click the “Request a Session” button and get in touch with me.