The Porch Therapy Group building
504 West Main, West Plains, MO

Welcome

PORCH providers offer a wide selection of experiences and training. Counseling services include:

  • individual, couples, and grief counseling
  • play therapy
  • EMDR
  • trauma-informed counseling

We have several decades of cumulative experience in counseling and other helping professions. With this experience, there is a great deal of knowledge and passion for minimizing heartache, increasing resilience, and changing mental health trajectories.

Christine Dowell
MS, LPC, NCC
Adults
Direct #: 417-815-4253
Fax: 417-254-9658
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Dana Langston-Fleming
MS, LPC, NCC
Ages 11+
Direct #: 417-553-1242
Fax: 417-356-8795

Erin Rigdon
MS, LPC, NCC
Ages 13+
Direct #: 417-222-2439
Fax: 417-313-0867
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Audrey Thomas
MS, LPC, NCC
Ages 10+
Direct #: 417-815-6936
Fax: 417-313-0874

Jessica Campbell
MSW, LCSW
Ages 16+
Direct #: 417-744-5682
Fax: 417-313-0882
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Toni Autry
LCSW
Ages 11+
Direct # 417-807-2813
Fax: 417-313-0752
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Jenna Hampton
MS LPC
Ages 11+
Direct # 417-524-2535
Fax: 417-313-0765

Ashli Wake
MS PLPC
Ages 13+
Direct # 417-390-3105
Fax: 417-815-9395
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Moiria Seiber
MS PLPC
Ages 3+
Direct #: 417-744-5682
Fax:
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Brandy Smith
MS (licensure pending)
Ages 3+
Direct # 417-783-2959
Fax: 417-313-0893

Individual Therapy | Play Therapy | Trauma-Informed Therapy
Couple Counseling | Grief Counseling | EMDR

Individual Therapy

In individual counseling, the focus is on developing a one-to-one relationship with the therapist. The relationship can take on many facets depending on the approach the therapist is using, but most often involves the creation of an accepting atmosphere along with the use of techniques for the purpose of symptom reduction and/or personal development. The individual is engaged in a self-reflective process on his or her emotions and behaviors.

Play Therapy

Play therapy is used to help children ages 3 to 12 explore their lives and freely express repressed thoughts and emotions through play. Therapeutic play normally takes place in a safe, comfortable playroom, where very few rules or limits are imposed on the child, encouraging free expression and allowing the therapist to observe the child’s choices, decisions, and play style. The goal is to help children learn to express themselves in healthier ways, become more respectful and empathetic, and discover new and more positive ways to solve problems.

Trauma-Informed Therapy

Trauma is the experience of severe psychological distress following any terrible or life-threatening event. Sufferers may develop emotional disturbances such as extreme anxietyanger, sadness, survivor’s guilt, or PTSD. They may experience ongoing problems with sleep or physical pain, encounter turbulence in their personal and professional relationships, and feel a diminished sense of self-worth due to the overwhelming amount of stress.

Although the instigating event may overpower coping resources available at the time, it is nevertheless possible to develop healthy ways of coping with the experience and diminishing its effects.

Couple Counseling

Couple counseling involves an intense focus on improving the communication pattern within the couple. The therapist is involved in analyzing and offering feedback about the interactions the couple is having, and makes suggestions about ways to improve it. It is typically considered more intensive than individual therapy because both partners are invited to co-create the process of change.

Grief Counseling

Grief is the acute pain that accompanies loss. It is deep, because it is a reflection of what we love, and it can feel all-encompassing. Grief can follow the loss of a loved one, but it is not limited to the loss of people; it can follow the loss of a treasured animal companion, the loss of a job or other important role in life, or the loss of a home or of other possessions of significant emotional investment.

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a unique, nontraditional form of psychotherapy designed to diminish negative feelings associated with memories of traumatic events. Unlike most forms of talk therapy, EMDR focuses less on the traumatic event itself and more on the disturbing emotions and symptoms that result from the event. Treatment includes a hand motion technique used by the therapist to guide the client’s eye movements from side to side, similar to watching a pendulum swing.