Finding Solutions for Individuals, Couples, Marriages, & Families in Central Illinois

At Summit Family Therapy, PLLC, we provide counseling services for children, individuals, couples, marriages, and families in Peoria, Illinois.

Our married co-founders, Drs. Ryan Stivers and Courtney Stivers, PhD, LMFT, have created a team with the experience and expertise to help you achieve your goals. Counseling is typically brief, solution-oriented, goal specific, and designed with the "end in mind." Sessions are confidential and tailored to your unique needs.

Our staff specialties include:

- Adolescents & Young Adults

- Anxiety & Stress

- Couples & Marriage Counseling

- Depression & Life Transitions

- EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

- Faith-Based

- Nurses, Doctors, First Responders, Clergy, Pastors & Other High Stress Helping Professionals

- Play Therapy

- Sexual Addiction

- Substance/Alcohol Abuse

- Trauma, Abuse, & PTSD

Assessments & Reports

We may use formal assessments as part of your treatment and goal setting process.

We only use assessments which are appropriately designed, normed, tested for validity, and are widely considered to be dependable tools by other clinicians.

All formal assessments have limitations and must be applied contextually and with appropriate care.

These are typically used to gather more data about problematic behavior and how behaviors may impact others. Our online assessments could potentially save an individual 1-2 months of therapy sessions because these provide so much information. These are the current tests we provide:

Sexual Addiction Screening Test Revised (SAST-R)

- Designed to assist in the assessment of sexually compulsive behavior

- May indicate the presence of sex addiction

- Brief in nature

- FREE to take on the Recovery Zone website

"Betrayal Bond" Index Test

- Identifies signs of traumatic bonding (when a person bonds on the basis of betrayal)

- Traumatic bonding creates what we call a "betrayal bond”

- Brief in nature

- FREE to take on the Recovery Zone Website

Sexual Dependency Inventory 4.0 (SDI)

- Longer assessment includes the SAST-R

- Measures a broad range of sexually compulsive behaviors and their past and present impact

- 1-2 hours to complete

- Additional fee for assessment and interpretation time

Post-Traumatic Stress Inventory Revised (PTSI-R)

- Designed to assess current style of functioning

- Related to past or current trauma

- Based upon the latest research

- Additional fee for assessment and interpretation time

Money and Work Adaptive Styles Index (MAWASI)

- Measures the various ways (behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively) that money and/or work has impacted the individual’s life

- Shows how the individual has adapted his or her life to those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

- Additional fee for assessment and interpretation time

Inventory for Partner Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma (IPAST)

- A battery of assessments

- Examines the addict’s partner’s traumatic reactions, family of origin, strengths, and attachment styles

- Additional fee for assessment and interpretation time

The following Summit Family Therapy staff are trained to use the formal assessments listed above:

- Dr. Courtney Stivers, PhD, LMFT

- Dr. Ryan Stivers, PhD, LMFT

Family Therapy

Recovery is a family effort.

We help parents resolve behavioral problems with their children by exploring family dynamics, improving boundaries, and teaching parenting skills.

We can help you and your family navigate substance use and sexual addiction.

Family therapy can identify and resolve conflicts in the family. We can discuss your family roles, rules, and language of relationship — anything that might contribute to a problem. Every family has both strengths and weaknesses.

We take a holistic perspective of health care. We are most concerned with the overall, long-term well-being of individuals and their families.

FAMILY ISSUES WE TREAT INCLUDE:

- Addiction

- Behavioral Issues

- Blended Families

- Building Resilience

- Codependency

- Divorce Recovery

- Family Stress

- Parenting

- Single Parenting

The following Summit Family Therapy staff work with families:

- Dr. Courtney Stivers, PhD, LMFT

- Linda Cherry, MS, LCPC

- Meredith Messina, MA, LCPC

- Katie Neidetcher, MA, LCPC

- Robin Hayles, MA, LCPC

- Dr. Ryan Stivers, PhD, LMFT

Couples Therapy & Marriage Counseling

It seems like forever since you fell in love.

You want to be happy in your relationship, but it feels like something has changed. You are not communicating at all. Or when you do communicate, it quickly turns into arguments and fighting.

Maybe you get along with each other well, but it feels like something is missing. Your once passionate marriage feels a lot more like being roommates. You or your spouse had an affair and you’re not sure how to move forward. You find yourself considering divorce or what life would be like if you were single.

Our culture does a terrible job of teaching relationship skills or what a healthy relationship looks like. Our clinicians will help you learn tools to strengthen your relationships, find lasting love, and communicate in more productive ways.

We treat issues like relationship growth, improving connection and intimacy, having better quality sex, communication skills for “fighting fair,” healing from infidelity, helping you decide to stay in or leave a relationship, and work-life balance.

We provide counseling to all couples, from newly weds to life-long loves. Those considering marriage are welcome to weigh the pros and cons of taking their relationship to the next level. Struggling marriages have the chance to mend broken promises and reopen damaged communication channels.

Relationship enrichment is also offered for couples wanting to rekindle a dwindling flame. We also work to restore relationships through a forgiveness process and learning how to work through conflict in a healthy way.

No matter where you are from or what your concern might be, our aim is to reach your goals and enrich your relationships.

COUPLE AND MARITAL ISSUES WE TREAT INCLUDE:

- Addiction

- Affairs/Infidelity

- Boundaries

- Building Healthy Relationships

- Codependency

- Communication

- Divorce

- Infertility

- Life Transitions

- Premarital Counseling

- Sex Addiction

- Sexual Dysfunction

The following Summit Family Therapy staff work with couples and marriage concerns:

- Dr. Courtney Stivers, PhD, LMFT

- Linda Cherry, MS, LCPC

- Katie Neidetcher, MA, LCPC

- Robin Hayles, MA, LCPC

- Dr. Ryan Stivers, PhD, LMFT

Sex Addiction & Love Addiction Recovery

Coming to realize you may have an addiction can be overwhelming.
You want to figure out what to do, but it can be very scary taking those first steps towards recovery.
You need to talk to someone about your problem, but you are not sure where to turn.
Sexual addiction is defined by the International Institute for Trauma & Addiction Professionals as "any sexually-related compulsive behavior which interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones, and one’s work environment."

Just like an alcoholic who cannot to control their drinking, those struggling with sex or ****ography addiction continue their self-destructive sexual behavior despite negative consequences.

To be clear, we are not anti-sex. We think sex is a very good thing when it aligns with your faith or personal belief system. World renowned couples' therapist, Sue Johnson, writes in her book Love Sense, "Hot sex doesn’t lead to secure love; rather, secure attachment leads to hot sex—and also to love that lasts.” A healthy sexual relationship is an important element of emotional bonding and the attachment process.

Signs of sexual addiction (Carnes, 201:

- Acting out: a pattern of out-of-control sexual behavior.

- Experiencing severe consequences due to sexual behavior and an inability to stop despite these adverse consequences.

- Persistent pursuit of self-destructive behavior.

- Ongoing desire or effort to limit sexual behavior.

- Sexual obsession and fantasy as a primary coping strategy.

- Regularly increasing the amount of sexual experience because the current level of activity is no longer sufficiently satisfying.

- Severe mood changes related to sexual activity.

- Inordinate amounts of time spent obtaining sex, being sexual, and recovering from sexual experiences.

- Neglect of important social, occupational, or recreational activities because

The following Summit Family Therapy staff have specialty training in sex and love addiction recovery:

- Dr. Courtney Stivers, PhD, LMFT

- Dr. Ryan Stivers, PhD, LMFT