At ICCBT, Integrative Healthcare Takes the Lead

Written for the Fort Wayne Newspapers/Readers’ Choice Awards 2022 (one of 34).

Traditionally, medicine has always looked at repairing what’s wrong while nursing has focused itself on maximizing what a person already has by looking at the entire picture, according to Sharon Clevenger, Owner of Indiana Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Nursing has always been integrative. “And I like that. I resonated more with nursing."

Clevenger's practice placed first for Readers' Choice Best Counseling Center, her employee, Marti Mastbaum, won Best Counselor, and she won for Best Psychiatrist. Specifically, she's a psychiatric nurse practitioner who integrates all other health disciplines into traditional psychology, in order to treat the entire person.

Nurse practitioners using integrative healthcare look at biology, genetics, lifestyle, the toxins in your system, and vitamin levels. "We evaluate intestinal/gut function, which is really important for all health," Clevenger said. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (psychotherapy) is utilized, as are meditation and yoga as a lifestyle component.

"Someone comes in to see me and they are depressed," Clevenger said. "I'm not just looking at an antidepressant that fits your age or size, I'm looking at what could have caused this. It's usually a combination of a lot of things."

As such, the Indiana Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy (ICCBT) provides a wide range of psychiatric and mental health services to prevent problems and improve overall health. 

Integrative medicine is a relatively new discipline (in the last decade) and even newer for Fort Wayne, Clevenger said. "Getting things in the middle of the country takes a little longer. I was trained on the east coast and we were already doing some of those things there." Her clients are now actively seeking out integrative healthcare and ICCBT, especially in the era of Google searches.

Clevenger is a registered nurse, received a Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology, a Masters of Science in Advanced Practice Nursing in Philadelphia. She was trained in Cognitive Behavior Therapy by its creator, Dr. Aaron Beck. She teaches all over the world and is an author of books, plural. And she listens to her own advice.

"I like to teach my patients and professionals how you need to relax... how simple things can make a huge difference in your life."