Claudia Hirsemann, LCSW

Bio

​I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and owner of Emotional and Behavioral Therapy in both Tennessee and Florida. My background is in Mental Health, Addiction/Sobriety, Case Management, and Life Skills. I have been practicing since 2003 and grew up in the therapy office, as my parents are also therapists. I work with couples, families, adults, and teens over 18 years old. My approach is Cognitive Behavioral and Interpersonal with a focus in a Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual integration, Person in Environment, and Person-Centered perspective. She utilizes Bilateral Stimulation as a modality to treat trauma and other issues of concern. I focuses on mind, body, spirit/soul, environment, and relationships.

I will explore family of origin, behaviors, personality, life experiences, environment, how others impact you, and soul connection so that together we can find your AUTHENTIC YOU - through mind, body, soul, and environment.

I have worked in several settings across the Mental Health field including Substance Abuse Treatment, Private Practice, Crisis Services, Case Management, and Life Skills Education. I am concerned with developing who you are and not what you are/were told to be. I have a real apt for helping people find their AUTHENTIC SELF. I forge a trusting relationship between myself and my clients.

A Little More

​Whether you are dealing with a recent or life long issue, you can live a functional life. Your experiences have a great impact on your life and can create uneasiness. Understanding that dynamic is very important in healing difficulties. Often we are given mixed or untrue messages and labels about ourselves from either those around us or social constructs that create chaos in our lives and follow us throughout life. I want to help you differentiate who YOU really are from who you have been told you "should be".

I explore family of origin, behaviors, personality, life experiences, environment, how others impact you, and soul connection so that together we can find your AUTHENTIC YOU - through mind, body, soul, and environment.

My goal is not to change who you are or fit you into a box, but to make who you are work for you. As a social worker I look at the entire picture of your life (social, emotional, personal, environmental, spiritual, etc.) to bring all the pieces together. I learn how you bond to yourself, others, and the world.

I have been working in the mental health field since 2003. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to get you functioning and Inter/Intrapersonal Therapy to keep you functioning. I utilizes Bilateral Stimulation Therapy as a modality to trauma and other issues of concern.

Bilateral Stimulation Therapy

Bilateral Stimulation an eye movement treatment that utilizes back and forth eye movements guided by a trained therapist. It mimics the Rapid Eye Movement sleep stage when the brain is incorporating memories, both mental and physical, of daily and past life experiences. It accesses the unconscious part of the brain and basically places the memories where they belong.

When an event is paired with an intense emotion it burns into the brain. If the event is one that exceeds the level of coping skills one possesses, it becomes a trauma. Trauma can also result from prolonged adverse experiences either in childhood or adulthood. With trauma, the reexperiencing; whether it be in nightmares, somatic feelings, avoidance, or hypervigilance; is always there biting in the background in everything you do. This treatment breaks the relationship between the emotions and images associated with the traumatic event apart.

For simplicity sake let’s say the brain is divided into two parts, right hemisphere and left hemisphere. The right is emotional and the left is logical. When a trauma happens, it heightens emotions and vigilance. When this occurs the left brain, logic, checks out, leaving the right brain to try to figure out and make sense of the situation. Since it is incapable of doing so without the left brain, the trauma lingers and nightmares, somatic feelings, avoidance, and/or hypervigilance continue. Bilateral stimulation incorporates the trauma into both brains so they can make sense of it together, rendering it no longer intrusive.

My Approach

​Our past has a great impact on our life today and how we live it, and essentially our future. Understanding that dynamic is very important in healing what is going on in the present. I begin with some behavior practices to help you get functioning then I explore life experiences up to this point and family of origin so that together we can find the core of the issue and make your life work for you. I utilize Bilateral Stimulation as a modality to trauma issues and other issues of concern.

Your family of origin greatly affects how you parent your own children and, frankly, how you parent yourself and hold your self accountable. Which, in turn, affects how your children parent their children and hold themselves accountable. It all boils down to, how well are you able to make your life function? 

Often we are given messages and labels that follow us through our lives. I want to help you differentiate who you really are from who you have been told to be. Let’s discover together who your AUTHENTIC SELF is, not what you "should be." My approach is relaxed and casual. I am not confrontational but also will not coddle you. 

I have worked in mental health since 2003 in various levels of mental health and addiction. I am an LCSW in the state of TN and FL. I counsel individuals, couples, loved ones, and families. My approach is not to change who you are or fit you into a box, but to make who you are work for you, and find who you are and who you want to be. My approach is Cognitive Behavioral and Inter/Intrapersonal with a focus in a Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual, Person in Environment, and Person-Centered perspective. 

As a Social Worker I am uniquely trained to look at an entire picture of each client; Bio-psycho-social-spiritual-environmental-relational-intra/interpersonal. I pride myself as someone who looks beyond typical psychotherapy and visualizes healing from a 'wholistic' perspective.

Payment and Insurances

Aetna, Anthem, BCBS, Cigna, Evernorth, Humana, Megellan, UHC, Medicare, Ambetter, Optum, UMR, UBH, EAP, and Self Pay

I Help With

> Trauma

>Developmental Trauma

>Coping Skills

> Life Skills

> Sobriety

> Relationships

​> Anxiety

> Depression

> Narcissistic Abuse Recovery

> Parenting

> Shame/Guilt

> Establishing Healthy Boundaries

> Developing Self-Worth, Esteem, Confidence, and Value

> Spirituality

> Healthy Expression of Needs

> Codependence

> Emotional and/or Mental Distress

> Etc.