Orlando Counseling Specialists

Orlando Counseling Specialists is looking to rent out one of our four offices in Winter Park, FL.  We have a store front office in a great location.  We are looking to fill an office with someone in the counseling field or someone who has a speciality that would work well with the counseling field.  We currently have three LMHC and four registered interns.  Call if you are interested.  407.339.5504

Strong Interest Inventory

For qualified career interest assessment, Orlando Counseling Specialists now offers the Strong Interest Inventory Assessment.  This popular test helps guide you towards a more rewarding career that fits your interests.  Learn the top 10 occupations that compliment your personality and desires.  Discover different tasks, skills and abilities required for success associated with various occupations.  Now is the time to discover what type of work is best for you.  Call us at Orlando Counseling Specialists to schedule an appointment with one of our career development specialists. Don’t waste time staying in a job you hate.  Find job security in doing what you love and are designed for!

FIRO-B, CPI-260, CPI-434

Are you looking for help with managing, leadership, and improving your work performance?  Orlando Counseling Specialists now offers the FIRO-B and CPI-260 assessments to help you and your organization grow and improve.  This assessment offers practical, down-to-earth insights for training and development as a professional in a range of business and organizational contexts.  The CPI-434 (The California Psychological Inventory) instrument provides a complex yet highly accurate portrait of an individual’s professional and personal style.  If you are looking to create a more efficient and productive business by building leadership competencies and productive teamwork, call us at Orlando Counseling Specialists and make an appointment with our Career Development Specialists to discover what you can do for your business or organization.  Sometimes it takes a little outside help to learn where you and your organization can grow and improve productivity and become more efficient.  

Orlando Counseling Specialists is a Family Counseling Center offering a variety of counseling services to those in the Central Florida area.  We currently have job opportunities available for experienced Licensed Mental Health Counselors, and Registered Mental Health Interns. 

We are looking for an experienced Licensed Mental Health Counselor, who is looking for an office space to rent or desires to be apart of our growing practice in Winter Park, Florida.  We are interested in hiring someone who has somewhat of a client load already, who would enjoy being apart of our team. 

We also offer a wonderful opportunity for Registered Mental Health Counseling Interns who desire to be part of an exciting growing counseling center.

Orlando Counseling Specialists is involved in a variety of counseling services, such as drug testing and drug counseling and career assessments and career counseling.  We offer a variety of assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs temperament profile as well as the Strong’s Interest Inventory among others.  One of our specialties is working with children, adolescents, teens and families.  We have a unique style of working with children, adolescent and teens, which includes working with the family as a whole unit.  We have seen optimal results when we can work with parents and other family members toward the health and well-being of everyone.  This is a great place to gain experience in a variety of counseling services.  We have a flexible philosophy which includes training, supervision as we prepare and encourage our Interns to develop their own private practices through the unique opportunity we offer. 

Please call for an appointment:

Ask for Nancy A. Johnson, M.A., LMHC, P.A

Orlando Counseling Specialists now offers on-line psychological assessmenttests such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Strong Interest Inventoryand much more.  If you are looking for career direction, want to improveyour leadership potential, want to optimize your organization’s culture orare interested in exploring personal growth and potential, we have theassessment test for you.  And…you can do it in the comfort of your ownhome at a convenient time.  All of our psychological tests are madeavailable to all ages including children.Our counselors are trained and skilled in interpreting psychologicalassessment testing and can help you find better direction for your life.Once you take our test on-line you will meet with a qualified counselor tohelp you analyze the results.  Our favorite assessment is the Myers-BriggsType Indicator which is the most widely used psychological test of its kind.It is one of the most popular tools for promoting a better understanding andcommunication in personal, professional and organizational settings.  Contact any of our professional counselors and we will be happy to recommendthe best psychological assessment for your needs and will conduct a personalconsultation.

Well, sort of.  Wanted to officially say Orlando Counseling Specialists have moved from our Casselberry office to a wonderful, larger office in Winter Park.  With our larger space we have added a few other exciting features.  We have four new counselors.  Hopefully they will blog soon so you can meet them.  We also have started drug testing for our clients and the community.  And we have added some new specialities.  We will start psychological testing.  One of our new counselors specializes in career counseling so she will be bringing with her a host of testing tools that will bring a whole new dimension to the practice. We are so excited about the new faces and the new skills that we have in the office.  We look forward to see how we can serve the community and all that the future holds for Orlando Counseling Specialists as we serve children, adolescents, families, individuals, and couples.

We at Orlando Counseling Specialists, Orlando’s resource for family counseling, is now offering drug testing.  We are now certified to administer 11 panel drug screens to the our clients and the community.  The urine test will test for 11 different types of drugs while also having a few built in safe guards.  There is one panel with three different adulterant tests, which indicates if the collection was adulterated or not.  There is also a temperature panel that adds one more safe guard.  And the best part is that you will get your results in less than 5 MINUTES. Home tests range from $30 to $40 dollars.  We offer the service of performing the test and evaluating the results for only $30.  This product is by far one of the most advanced on-site drug screening product out there.  The product along with the service is one more way we at Orlando Counseling Specialists can help our community.

We would be kidding ourselves if we said that at some point in our lives we didn’t feel a bit anxious or at other times a bit down.  Well, we all fall somewhere on the continuum, more or less.  Even though so many of us struggle, we still feel alone, like no one would understand, like no one could grasp just how much it affects our lives.  It hurts.  We get angry and confused.  Some even get stuck.  And there are so many other words that describe what it’s like.  In this brief post I’d like to give us just a few ideas in staying engaged in the battle and actually making some headway, as difficult as it can be.

I’ve always thought honesty was one key element when walking towards a healthier you.  And it rings true when we battle anxiety and depression.  Being honest with yourself about how you feel and what you are experiencing is very important.  It is way to easy to go on living the busy life than to stop and take care of yourself.  And stopping to be honest is very important.  This should place within us a desire for change, for more.  If we let our emotions stay hidden deep within we run the risk of losing ourselves, losing the life we long for.  

Secondly, it must be said that healing is only possible in relationship.  We must not only be honest with ourselves but with others as well.  When we keep our hearts in the secret it gains the unhealthy power to isolate, to bring about shame, to avoid intimacy, or worse loneliness.  No doubt risking in such a way is fearful and scary, but think about the benefits.  I am not saying all of us who struggle need to see a counselor, but often at that time it could be our only safe place.  Being together in our pain is the only possible way to heal, in that it is most likely that our pain is a result of a broken relationship.  

Lastly, curiosity can be a driving force in getting healthy.  What is possible?  What would a stable mood feel like?  How would I experience intimacy if I could connect with others?  What would a deep rest feel like?  Is there something going on inside me that might need healing?  Is there more?  These are just some of the questions that drive me towards a healthier life.  That more satisfaction, connection, rest are possible.  

At Orlando Counseling Specialists people are being equipped to find these very things.  A safe place to be honest, be with others and dream about the possibilities. 

Are you stuck in a job you hate?  Do you feel frustrated doing the work you do?  Maybe you are sabotaging yourself by doing things you have the power to change.  Often times we have behaviors that harm our careers and hold us back from doing what we are designed to do.  If we just recognize those behaviors we can start to make a positive impact on our careers. Here are a few patters that typically hold people back:

1.        Hiding in the background- Hiders don’t speak up and allow others to get credit for their achievements.  They love to stay in the background in order to be a team player and forget their own ambitions and dreams.  The isolate themselves from key decision makers.  When opportunities arise, they have so little faith in themselves, they fail to grab onto them.  They often wonder why they are still stuck in the same job.

2.       Playing the blame game- Blamers excuse their lack of success by blaming others.

3.       Procrastinating- Procrastinators have great plans but don’t get around to carrying them through.  The trouble is that procrastination becomes a habitual way of thinking and the more entrenched it is, the harder it is to break away.

4.       Apathy- These people say “why bother” or “The system won’t let me go far anyway”.  Apathetic people give up before even trying.

5.       Avoiding the issue altogether- Avoiders keep themselves busy with unnecessary activities, such as gossip or non-work related distractions.  There’s a lot of energetic action, but they are just spinning their wheels in the sand –while others are moving ahead.

6.       Neglecting your professional development- Not keeping your skills current is a sure-fire way to sabotage your career and limit opportunities.

7.       Staying when you should go- Sometimes people know that a job doesn’t match their abilities, skills, or interests but they stick with it because they don’t know what else to do or feel they’ve already invested too much to change course.

Any of these behavior patterns over time will limit your career prospects, diminish your sense of fulfillment, and leave you with a nagging sense of frustration.  It is a slow downward spiral of settling for less.  If any of these behaviors seem familiar to you call a career counselor today and they will help you set a plan in motion on how to stop and make positive changes for your career.Call Debbie Haughton to schedule an appointment.Article retrieved from NCDA newsletter.  Written by Pamela Thorne.

As a family counselor here in the Orlando area, I am acutely aware of the many ways we are bombarded with ads that portray the holidays with the perfect happy family.  Most children, teens and families long to expereince the holidays with as much fun and laughter as possible, but for many - parents and children alike, the holiday hype is a painful reminder of someone they have lost, either by divorce or by death.  In my expereince as a counsoler, parents are great at masking their  pain for the children’s sake, and children rarely let on that they may be unhappy.  It is often awkward; who will understand?  Would or could anyone help if they really knew?  These are just some of the familiar questions I hear from families who dread facing the  holidays alone.It is important to remind ourselves that there is no perfect family situation.  In fact, twenty percent of families are headed by one parent.  We all know families in Orlando who have  been touched by such losses as divorce and death.  When we are mindful of such expereinces of pain in other people’s lives, we can all contribute in meaningful ways toward helping a parent, a child or a family better manage the stress that comes with such a loss.  What would it look like if our Orlando communities came together for one another?  Honestly, it would just take one family caring for another in order to make a difference.If you are one of the parents or children who find that divorce and/or death has created additional stress for you this  season, I have a few suggestions for you.  And for the rest of the community, I encourage you to reach out to those you know who are hurting and bring an extra blessing into their lives this holiday season.  Two suggestions:  (1)  Focus on WHO you have in your life and  how much you enjoy them.  Plan in advance how to make them part of your holiday.  Try new food, a new game and have fun together.  Perhaps try a new tradition and share it with some friends.  Take time to be with those who love and care for you.  (2)  Reach out to someone else in need of a friend or a blessing.  Reaching out to someone else helps keep the focus off the pain and onto the joy you can bring to another family.One of the traditions we do as a family every Christmas, is choose a family in the community to bless for twelve days (- the idea comes from the “Twelve Days of Christimas”).  We go out to the store and buy one item and write a poem that goes so mething like this:  “On the first day of Christmas, from our home to yours…one Christmas candle”.  We put it in a nice holiday bag, drive over to their house, put it on the front porch, ring the bell and run.  It is an absolute blast.  My son would say it is a great adrenalan rush because we have to be careful not to get caught.  The next day we buy two items and so forth, and on Christmas Eve, we bring a dozen cinnamon rolls and reveal ourselves to the family.  There is much laughter and fun as we all  share the close calls and stories over the past twelve days, and a special bond grows between the families.  This tradition has become a favoratie part of our hoilday as a family.Take time this holiday season, even in your own paian, to reach out and be a blessing to others.  Reaching out to another family is a wonderful way to channel your energy and sadness.  I can attest to the fact that giving a blessing to another famiy will come back to  bless you in ways you never imagined.Nancy A. Johnson, M.A., LMHC

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