INTRODUCTION:
Maritza V. Encinas provides outpatient mental health counseling and evaluations specializing in sexual behavioral issues for male and female adult and juvenile clients in Bend, Oregon and around the state. She provides individual, group and family therapy sessions in addition to assessment, and consultation for clients and the community. She also offers bilingual services available to Spanish speaking clients. Methods for treating clients include cognitive behavioral and experiential therapy. She is a licensed practical counselor in Oregon (LPC) and also a sex offender treatment provider (SOTB) in addition to being a clinical member of the Association of the Treatment of Sexual Abuse (ATSA). She has been specializing in treating those that have committed sexual crimes and other inappropriate behaviour since 2005. Prior to this she treated court ordered populations requiring substance abuse services, and also clients diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. She also has experience working in inpatient hospital settings and doing crisis evaluations for clients in hospital emergency rooms to triage their needs.
AREAS OF TREATMENT:
Structured treatment programming for sexual offenders offering gender specific programming for male and female clients. Our clients are referred to us by community corrections, parole and probation, DHS, attorney's, courts and other community agencies. Please note clients do not need to be convicted of a sex crime to receive our services. We wish to be available to all clients needing our help to take ownership of sexually abusing others and a crime of conviction is not necessary to access our sex offender treatment programs. We help clients in our sex offender treatment programs to break types of denial to take full ownership, and accept the invitation to move forward with their lives in a productive, and safe manner. Additional services offered include treatment for pornography addiction, sexual addiction, and sexual abuse victims who have not harmed others. Contact Maritza to discuss your needs to ensure you receive the best care possible.
PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL PROGRAM YOGA HORSE TRIBE:
We are pleased to offer a psychoeducational component to our services as an alternative to traditional learning formats focusing on mindfulness and centering practices using the healing benefits of working with animals. Yoga Horse Tribe was designed by Buena Vida Counseling's Christopher L. Edwards, a lifetime horseman, trainer, and now certified yoga instructor helping mental health populations and members of the public find their way to feeling more connected to nature, animals, and the self. These services are available to sexual abuse victims, any person suffering PTSD symptoms or with traumatic experience, and general mental health and wellness. Note that psychoeducational services are not clinical therapy, however, they have therapeutic benefits that can assist people to better understand the process of feedback, metaphor analysis and to build trust by working with our horses. When people have difficulty connecting with others, they often work well with animals. We are pleased to offer Yoga Horse Tribe services to assist others in finding a greater place of health, wellness, center, and mindfulness. Yoga Horse Tribe sessions can be private, or cater to small groups of individuals. Yoga experience is not necessary, and work with horses can be exclusively on the ground, or on the horses back depending on student needs. Interested agencies and individuals may contact Christopher directly to inquire and schedule at 541-639-1680 or email him at yogahorsetribe@gmail.com. Please see the About pages to learn more about Christopher's background and how the idea for Yoga Horse Tribe was born.
SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM THERAPY:
It is a vital part of the practice to specialize in compassionate services for sexual abuse victims. Sometimes the treatment center becomes the first place a victim can fully learn to express their feelings, thoughts and emotions regarding their abuse. It is important this be a guided and supported journey to facilitate healing and address barriers that may be preventing them from doing so. Experiential therapy methods are implemented to support cognitive behavioral therapy as sexual abuse victims convey their stream of consciousness better via alternative methods such as equine psychotherapy, art, meditation and music. Every person who has been sexually abused has their own experience, their own story. It deserves to be heard, validated, and understood and clients require an immense amount of support in this direction of their growth. In 2017 we added Yoga Horse Tribe, a special program to assist victims of sexual abuse via the use of experiential methods using horses to work with people to engage the senses and to assist in trusting others again. Often survivors of sexual abuse struggle with trusting others again, but find unconditional love, validation and therapeutic challenging in working with horses. We believe taking care of the body and mind via the use of our horses can open doors of communication traditional psychoeducational and clinical programs may not have been able to. To inquire and schedule for Yoga Horse Tribe psychoeducational sessions, please contact Chris L. Edwards, RYT 200, and Yoga Alliance member at 541-639-1680. We are proud to offer this as a community resource to all including mental health populations. Please read about Chris on the staff pages of our website to learn more.
SEXUAL ADDICTION & PORNOGRAPHY ADDICTION:
Therapy services are available to treat sexual addiction and pornography addiction. Struggling to manage compulsive and addictive behavior such as sexual addiction and pornography can lead individuals to damage personal and professional relationships, and hinder quality of life isolating them from others. Just like any other addiction, this requires therapy services and structured learning to better understand compulsive and addictive thought and behavior cycles. These components may be present with our clients in sex offender treatment programming, but it is important to note our agency also treats non-offenders for sexual issues.
TREATMENT FEES:
Our fees for evaluations, individual, group and family sessions are discussed via our enrollment and orientation process. This informed consent process ensures we discuss any funding a client may have to use via the referral source, and financial responsibilities every client will have to help them budget accordingly. Please contact Maritza for further information to answer your questions. Yoga Horse Tribe fees can be discussed with Christopher L. Edwards 541-639-1680 or at yogahorsetribe@gmail.com.