While working in foster care and adoption services, clinical social worker Karen Mummau saw the value of working with families through the attachment lens of psychotherapy, an approach that explores how childhood experiences affect a person’s ability to form meaningful bonds in adulthood.

After serving as an independent therapist for two years, Mummau thought it would be beneficial to have other like-minded therapists join her, and Matters of the Heart Counseling was born in January 2020 with a mission to serve people in the community and support mental health.

Despite forming just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mummau and her team have expanded services beyond foster care and adoption and branched into a full-service therapy center for families, children, couples and individuals. They offer counseling for depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. “We have a family-systems approach, so we’re not just working with an individual, but also the entire family as much as possible,” Mummau says.

Located in a traditional house, Matters of the Heart Counseling provides a warm, home-like atmosphere. “When you come into therapy, we’re asking you to be completely vulnerable. We want you to be as comfortable as possible,” she affirms. Mummau has noticed that more men are seeking counseling, especially regarding relationships. The practice has two male therapists to speak one-on-one with men seeking therapy.

Individualized Therapies for Everyone

New to Matters of the Heart Counseling is neurofeedback, which focuses on strengthening the brain’s prefrontal cortex, or the “thinking” part of the brain. While watching a movie, clients wear an infrared headband that reads blood pressure to the brain.

If the limbic system—the emotion center of the brain—overrides the prefrontal cortex with an emotional reaction to the movie or they become distracted, it will stop. Clients then need to relax and refocus to resume play. This helps the body create new neuropathways so that focus becomes the default instead of an emotional reaction.

“We noticed that talk therapy got people far in resolving traumas, but the missing piece was actually working with the brain and how the brain works,” Mummau shares. “This form of neurofeedback is strengthening that thinking part of the brain by learning to stay engaged and being able to think through situations, rather than having an emotional reaction.”

Play therapy incorporates a number of joyful activities for kids to learn about themselves, encourage independent thinking and develop self-advocacy skills. Art therapy uses integrative creative methods to improve cognitive and sensory-motor functions, foster self-esteem, enhance social skills, develop conflict resolution skills and heighten societal awareness.

Options for couples therapy include intensives where partners can spend an entire weekend with a therapist to deeply focus on their relationships. This can allow time for deep revelation and processing of feelings and emotions.

Several therapists at Matters of the Heart Counseling are trained in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. This mental health technique involves a series of eye movements that helps individuals move trauma to another part of the brain and out of the present moment, rather than trauma being a constant interruption in day-to-day life.

Matters of the Heart Counseling also offers yoga therapy to help people with trauma reconnect with their bodies. Many of the therapists also provide a Christian, faith-based perspective if a client chooses. Mummau says they have also welcomed a perinatal mental health counselor to help people with postpartum depression, early attachment and strengthening bonds.

Some of the most popular staff members at Matter of the Heart Counseling are Dusky and Stormy, a pair of Great Pyrenees dogs that are available for therapy sessions. While they are not certified therapy dogs, their presence has a calming effect and encourages self-confidence in children.

New Location Will Serve Elizabethtown

Due to their rapid growth, Matters of the Heart Counseling recently expanded with a second location in Elizabethtown that will offer the same services as the original location as well as a counselor that speaks Spanish. The space is a few blocks from Elizabethtown Area Middle School and Elizabethtown Area High School, as well as Elizabethtown College. Mummau says the new location will offer a safe space for children and teens. Dusky and Stormy also have their own “office” at the Elizabethtown location.

Matters of the Heart Counseling is located at 45 W Brandt Blvd., Salunga, and 420 E. Park St., in Elizabethtown. For more information, call 717-282-2908, email [email protected] or visit MattersOfTheHeartCounselingllc.com.