Services

Jeff Lubsen offers reduced-fee counseling at $45/hour (for a limited time) for individuals and couples, ranging from adolescent to older adult, who pay for therapy out-of-pocket...

To Make an Appointment call 816-912-8945

or email: jeff@lgbtguild.com

Focus

Jeff is completing his masters of science degree in mental health counseling and will continue his education with a Ph.D. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.  He has over 4000 hours of community health service working with diverse ethnic, racial, sexual, and spiritual populations. 

He is focused on concerns related to:

1. -Anxiety and depression
   

2. -Life transitions and personal growth
   

3. -Gender and sexual identities
   

4. -Disability and disease
   

5. -Addictions and substance abuse
   

6. -Spirituality and relationship issues
   

Jeff uses a strengths-based approach to help clients develop healthier, more fulfilling relationships, focusing on issues such as intimacy, self-esteem, assertiveness, gender, and body image.  He is a member of the American Counseling Association of Missouri and the Missouri Mental Health Counselors Association.

The Concept of Personal Resilience

Science Magazine states, “A growing number of studies look at the role of resilience. Their findings suggest that some people are more adept than others at bouncing back from adversity. There is still controversy about the extent to which resilience is innate or learned, but there's widespread agreement that humans can increase resilience and learn to handle workplace stressors better.”

Ways to Increase Resilience

-Make connections with people who can provide social support (e.g., mentors, friends, and colleagues)

-Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable and maintain a long-term view toward the future

-Accept that change (and the need to adapt to it) is part of living

-Focus on small steps and realistic goals that can be accomplished on a regular basis

-Take decisive action rather than wishing problems would go away

-Look for opportunities for self-discovery; learn lessons from stress and adversity

-Nurture a positive view of yourself that allows you to trust your instincts

-Maintain perspective and don't blow things out of proportion

-Take care of yourself mentally and physically

-Meditation and spiritual practices are helpful to some people.

The Power of Positivity

Taking in the Good

In the book, “Buddha’s Brain: the practical neuroscience of happiness, love, and wisdom,” Dr. Rick Hanson, Ph.D. states, “Much as your body is built from the foods you eat, your mind is built from the experiences you have...Your brain acts like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones...the remedy is not to suppress negative experiences; when they happen, they happen.  Rather, it is to foster positive experiences and in particular, to take them in so they become a permanent part of you...

The longer that something is held in awareness and the more emotional stimulating it is, the more neurons that fire and thus wire together... Focus on your positive emotions and body sensations.  Let the experience fill your body and be as intense as possible.  For example, if someone is good to you, let the feeling of being cared about bring warmth to your whole chest.”

Jeff Lubsen Curriculum Vitae - 2011.pdf

The Perspective of Gratitude

New York Times - John Tierney - November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving may be the holiday from hell for nutritionists, and it produces plenty of war stories for psychiatrists dealing with drunken family meltdowns. But it has recently become the favorite feast of psychologists studying the consequences of giving thanks. Cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher longterm satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners. A new study shows that feeling grateful makes people less likely to turn aggressive when provoked, which helps explain why so many brothers-in-law survive Thanksgiving without serious injury....READ ARTICLE: A Serving of Gratitude Brings Healthy Dividends - NYTimes.com.pdf