Therapy and Counseling in Coral Springs, Florida

Who therapy helps in Coral Springs

Psychotherapy — sometimes called counseling or talk therapy — is a first-line treatment for the mental health concerns that bring most adults to care. At NWCOA, therapy in Coral Springs is for adults navigating:

• Depression — persistent low mood, loss of interest, fatigue, and hopelessness.
• Anxiety — excessive worry, panic, social anxiety, and physical symptoms such as a racing heart or anxiety-related nausea.
• Trauma and PTSD — intrusive memories, hypervigilance, and avoidance after a frightening event.
• Life transitions — grief, divorce, retirement, caregiving, and the identity shifts that come with major change.

Therapy is also a key part of care for conditions that often sit alongside depression and anxiety. If your symptoms are part of a broader picture, you may also find our anxiety treatment and PTSD and trauma therapy pages helpful.

How each therapy approach works

Therapy is not one-size-fits-all. Different approaches target different parts of a problem — unhelpful thought patterns, intense emotions, traumatic memories, or the inner blocks that hold change back. A consultation with one of our licensed therapists determines which is the right fit for your history and goals.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a structured, present-focused therapy that helps you identify and change the thought patterns that feed depression and anxiety. In CBT, you learn to notice automatic thoughts, test them against reality, and replace them with more balanced ones — then practice new behaviors between sessions.

Good fit when: depression or anxiety is driven by negative self-talk, worry loops, or avoidance. CBT has some of the strongest evidence of any therapy for depression and anxiety disorders. Individual results may vary.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) teaches skills in four areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. “Dialectical” means holding two truths at once — accepting yourself as you are and working toward change.

Good fit when: emotions feel overwhelming, relationships are strained, or you use unhealthy coping habits under stress. DBT skills give you concrete tools for riding out intense emotions without making things worse.

EMDR and trauma-focused therapy

EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) is a structured trauma-focused therapy. During a session, you briefly recall a distressing memory while following guided eye movements, which helps the brain reprocess how that memory is stored so it loses its emotional charge. Unlike standard talk therapy, EMDR targets the way a traumatic memory is encoded.

Good fit when: symptoms trace back to a specific event or series of events — an accident, assault, loss, or frightening experience. EMDR is an evidence-based treatment for PTSD and trauma-related symptoms. Learn more on our PTSD and trauma therapy page and our when past trauma resurfaces guide. Individual results may vary.

EMDR intensives

For patients who want focused, faster trauma work, NWCOA offers EMDR intensives — longer or more frequent EMDR sessions concentrated over a shorter period, rather than spread across weekly visits. An intensive format lets you stay with the reprocessing work without a week between sessions, which some people find helps the material settle more quickly. A consultation decides whether an intensive fits your history and goals.

Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure (PE)

Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is a structured talk therapy, usually about 12 weekly sessions, that helps you notice and change stuck beliefs that can take hold after a trauma — for example, self-blame or the sense that nowhere is safe. You write about what happened and, with your therapist, examine how those beliefs affect your life, then gradually replace them with more balanced conclusions.

Prolonged exposure (PE) works differently: with your therapist, you gradually and safely revisit the trauma memory and the places or situations you have been avoiding, repeating them until they lose their power over time. The goal is for the memory and the avoided situations to feel less overwhelming, so they stop driving your daily life.

Both CPT and PE are first-line, research-backed treatments for PTSD in the VA/DoD 2023 PTSD guideline. NWCOA offers both, and we also offer exposure therapy for anxiety and phobias. A consultation helps decide which approach fits your history and goals.

Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP)

Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) pairs off-label IV ketamine sessions with guided therapy work in the window of time when ketamine may increase flexibility in your thinking. IV ketamine is not FDA-approved for depression, anxiety, or PTSD; it is used off-label. Therapy before, during, and after the medicine session helps you integrate what comes up.

Good fit when: standard therapy and medication have not produced enough relief and you want a deeper, medicine-supported process. Learn more on our ketamine-assisted psychotherapy page.

Exposure therapy

Exposure therapy helps reduce avoidance and fear by gradually and safely facing the situations, thoughts, or sensations a person has been avoiding. A structured, step-by-step approach lets the nervous system learn that the feared outcome does not arrive, which loosens anxiety’s grip over time.

Good fit when: avoidance is keeping anxiety, panic, or trauma symptoms in place. NWCOA offers exposure therapy.

Meet the therapists

Our licensed clinicians bring different specialties and backgrounds, so you can find a therapist who fits your needs.

• Daniel Pietras, MD — Medical Director. Board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Florida-licensed, with a biopsychosocial approach to treatment-resistant depression and advanced neuromodulation.
• Nyoka Powell Robinson, PMHNP-BC — Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with over seven years in psychiatry; leads IV ketamine protocols and medication management.
• Roxana Carmenate, LCSW — Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 20 years of clinical experience; specializes in EMDR intensives, ketamine- and SPRAVATO®-assisted therapy, trauma and PTSD, grief, and faith-based counseling.
• Timitra Martin, RCSW — Registered Clinical Social Worker; trauma-informed, client-centered care using CBT and DBT for anxiety, depression, trauma, and life stressors.
• Olivia Sierra, LCSW — Licensed Clinical Social Worker who integrates evidence-based therapy with nervous-system regulation, neurofeedback, sound healing, and NLP.

A free consultation helps match you to the right clinician. NWCOA treats adults 18 and older.

When therapy alone isn’t enough

Therapy is a powerful first-line treatment, but it is not always enough on its own. When depression or anxiety persists despite good therapy, your plan can add other evidence-based options in the same practice:

• Medication management — psychiatric prescribing and monitoring alongside therapy.
• Standard TMS — an FDA-cleared, non-invasive brain-stimulation therapy for major depressive disorder (MDD), when depression hasn’t improved enough on medication. Certain devices are also cleared for OCD and for anxiety symptoms that occur with depression (FDA clearances in 2018 for OCD and 2021 for anxiety symptoms in adults with depression).
• SPRAVATO® (esketamine) — an FDA-approved nasal spray for adults with treatment-resistant depression and for depressive symptoms in adults with MDD with acute suicidal thoughts or behavior; given in clinic under a REMS program with at least 2 hours of observation and no driving until the next day after a restful sleep.
• The SAINT® Neuromodulation System — FDA-cleared for MDD in adults whose depression hasn’t improved enough on prior antidepressants; NWCOA treats adults 22+. The five-day course starts at $25,000, paired with a free benefits check and financing options.

For anxiety or trauma without a depression component, advanced neuromodulation is generally off-label or investigational; therapy and medication remain the evidence-based first-line treatments. A consultation decides what fits your specific situation.

Sessions, telehealth & insurance

A typical therapy session lasts about 50 to 60 minutes, often weekly to start and spaced out as symptoms improve. Some concerns, such as trauma processing with EMDR, can be structured as longer or more frequent sessions; your therapist sets a plan with you and revisits it as your needs change.

Your first conversation with us is free and can happen by Zoom or in person, including evenings and weekends. Follow-up care by video is available to patients located in Florida. A free consultation confirms whether your visits can be in-person, virtual, or a combination, based on your needs and your plan.

Therapy may be covered; coverage varies by plan and by the specific service. Individual psychotherapy is commonly covered, while ketamine-assisted psychotherapy may not be. We verify your benefits for free before treatment begins — see our insurance options page.

Which therapy approach fits?

Lengths vary by person and severity. Individual results may vary.

Frequently asked questions

Cited research

1. Cuijpers P, Cristea IA, Karyotaki E, et al. “How effective are cognitive behavior therapies for major depression and anxiety disorders? A meta-analytic update.” World Psychiatry. 2016;15(3):245–258. doi.org/10.1002/wps.20346
2. Cuijpers P, Karyotaki E, Reijnders M, et al. “Who benefits from psychotherapies for adult depression? A meta-analytic update.” J Affect Disord. 2021;286:238–245. doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.03.005
3. Carlsson J, Gallagher KM, Cross JF, et al. “Single-session reduction of PTSD symptoms with eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): A meta-analysis.” J Clin Psychiatry. 2021;82(5):20m13814. doi.org/10.4088/JCP.20m13814
4. Cuijpers P, Reijnders M, Karyotaki E, et al. “Effects of psychotherapy for depression in adults 1968–2014: A meta-analysis.” World Psychiatry. 2019;18(1):93–104. doi.org/10.1002/wps.20616