Ashley DeMars MSEd, LPCC

My name is Ashley DeMars. I am a licensed professional clinical counselor in the state of Minnesota. I have worked in Mental Health treatment settings since 2014, with experience in day treatment settings for adults and children, in home family settings, and individual office settings. 

I have worked with families, children, teens, and adults. My passion is working with adolesents and adults who experience anxiety, depression, and other major life challenges.  It can be hard in this ever changing world to have a place to feel heard and supported. My intent is to help build that bridge for people to have a safe and secure place to feel heard and supported when things in life feel challenging and alone. I want to be with you in the journey of self-growth and help challenge life’s ever changing difficulties.  I look forward to sharing this powerful experience with you and joining in your process of self-growth and discovery.

Ashley is accepting clients 12 and older.  

· Adolesents & Adults

· Anxiety  

· Depression  

· Self-love/esteem  

· Coping techniques  

· Social skills and interpersonal effectiveness

· Sand Tray, Art, Implement Play

I take a cognitive behavior therapy approach in my clinical practice. I am a firm believer that the basis of our behaviors have a function and are directly linked to our thoughts and feelings. If we can gain an understanding of this, we can live a more fulfilling and compassionate life that will help our relationships with ourselves and those around us. 

I also have a passion for hands on learning and have been trained in and implement play, art, and sand tray therapy to help us learn more about our creative sides of self.

ART is a technique rooted in existing evidence-based therapies that provides rapid relief from distressful trauma symptoms, anxiety, and other issues. ART is used to treat betrayal trauma, PTSD, and many other forms of trauma.   Clients suffering from other mental health challenges can experience remarkable benefits.  Some of these challenges include:  Addiction, Anxiety, Depression, OCD, Grief & Loss, Family Issues, and Phobias. 

ART works by temporarily reactivating the traumatic memory using relaxing eye movements. When the memory is accessed it can be permanently changed using ART's protocols and techniques.  While the client knows that the changes are not the actual memory, it provides a new start for the client.  The clients Trigger Origin is changed or removed which provides rapid emotional relief.  ART's motto is to keep the knowledge and lose the pain.  Once the session is complete, you will still have the facts of the memory, but you will lose the painful images, emotions, and sensations that were once a part of the memory.

https://artherapyinternational.org/

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. There is mounting research that suggests that CBT leads to significant improvement in functioning and quality of life. 

Young people don’t always have the ability to express what is troubling them. Sometimes this is because they lack the verbal skills to describe their feelings or don’t know exactly what they feel. Or they simply feel unsafe talking about their most deep-rooted emotions.

Whatever the case, art and play therapy can overcome those obstacles because it builds on the natural way we learn and express ourselves which is by playing and being creative. It provides a safe emotional distance from their problems and can help bring suppressed feelings to the surface. This allows the therapist and parents gain understanding into their inner world.