Hello Friend and WELCOME to my practice Pragmatic Solutions Therapy, PLLC! My name is Monica. I am an experienced psychotherapist with 20 plus years working in private practice and/or clinical hospital settings. I have passion, dedication and ethical standards I uphold with every client. My basic mantra in life is simple: Drop the baggage and take the value. Step out of the box and if you can't change the problem, then change the way you see it, from a different perspective. Everyone at one point or another in life may experience a host of unbearable stressors that leaves one feeling stressed or 'out of sorts'. We may even describe that feeling as 'lost in a web of frustration', which is feeling anxious, fatigue, sadness. As if our unique threshold is completely depleted. Feeling anxious is normal. Feeling stressed is actually a sense of determination to gain back control and that tiredness is actually temporary. Anxiousness is innate in all of us. What's not healthy is when stressors crosses the threshold to what feels comfortable, interrupts our daily habits/responsibilities and each attempt to 'fix things' is lost; all we want is solitude. I’ll help you navigate the web of confusion to find empowerment. My journey began as a young child whose home was a host of struggles which provided insight into what we all experience. Inspired by a helper, I became a psychotherapist, worked in a clinical setting, garnered a vast amount of knowledge which helped me to specialize in various modalities of treatment. As a psychotherapist, I hold a high standard for myself and clients I serve, which includes those dealing w/depression, grief, anxiety, relationship issues, trauma, chronic health and other issues. Together, we'll identify what's not working, find solutions you can innately use, form goals without rescripting your life.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
Our first session is called the "Intake Session" where you and I will get to know each other, develop rapport to where you will feel safe and learn the tone of the what therapy is all about. You will learn I hold a high ethical standard for all my clients, which includes confidentiality, duty to warn, and what you are looking to improve in your life. The initial visit is when you and I (psychotherapist) get to know each other and get an idea of how to proceed based on your needs, such as the issues impacting your well-being, develop goals and objectives to build your therapeutic plan which includes the proper therapeutic modalities that will help you find YOUR sense of empowerment in the here and now.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My biggest strength is my work ethic, in that I focus all my energy on every session to help every client find the recovery that brought them to therapy. Every client, YOU ARE IMPORTANT to me. I make it a point to stay abreast with the latest research on therapeutic tools so that I can concisely prepare for every session, using the best approach in treating my clients. For example, many therapists tend to stick with one modality and will never waiver from said modality, despite the client's needs, whereas the end result is a repeated farce of stagnate sessions - NOT ME. Every human being is unique, diverse and static to the events impacting them. We, as clinicians, must treat every client genuinely, honestly, and accordingly. Honesty is paramount in a therapeutic relationship with every client. That being said, a therapist doesn't know everything and should admit when unable to help the client. I pledge to be honest with you and provide the best treatment to help you reach your therapeutic goals.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
I specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused approach, Mindfulness therapy, Motivational interviewing and Acceptance and Commitment therapy. In addition to my specializations in my solely telehealth treatment, I also provide a full EMDR treatment process as well as a modified version of EMDR called EMD, which is part of the Humanistic approach. As you can see, I use a diverse set of theoretical orientations to help you/others recover from whatever issue is obstructing you from moving forward with a sense of control, empowerment; exactly what everyone searches for when dealing with issues such as grief, anxiety, depression, adjustment to change as part of life, including trauma, sleep disorders or just a simple innate desire to cope with whatever stressors are denying you a sense of healing, tranquility or fulfillment in life, and so much more. I also speak English and Spanish fluently.
About Monica M. Rivera-Pina, owner of Pragmatic Solutions Therapy PLLC
Identifies as
Specializes in
Licensed in
Accepts
Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
As a psychotherapist with 20 years of experience working in the clinical setting, I use the most proven modalities; many of which stem from a proven specialization known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I have helped many clients (re)gain control of their life stressors that unbeknownst to them kept them imprisoned with daily negative thoughts. Those cognitive distortions are common to us all, and often happen automatically, sometimes seemingly out of nowhere. Over time, the process of questioning and replacing negative thoughts with solutions, implementing boundaries for ourselves and others, as well as tools for de-stressing the mind, body and soul, will/can transform our thought processes into a sense of empowerment known as healing.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
Another powerful and successful therapeutic modality is Dialectical Behavioral therapy (DBT). In my professional and experienced opinion, DBT goes hand in hand with CBT, considering DBT is basically a modified form of cognitive behavioral therapy. The main goal of DBT is to guide people in how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate our emotions, as well as improve our relationships with others. Alike to CBT, the tools for DBT are far-reaching, in that the techniques and tools has been proven to successfully treat people dealing with trauma, grief, bi-polar and so much more. DBT also helps people recover and move forward from what is holding them "stuck" in an emotional state of negative thoughts and hopelessness.
EMDR
Another modality I am trained in is EMDR, a psychotherapy technique designed to relieve the distress associated with disturbing memories that stem from a traumatic event. EMDR is short for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. The therapeutic modality known as EMDR involves recalling a specific troublesome experience while following a side-to-side visual stimulus delivered by the therapist. The result of using lateral eye movements helps to reduce the emotional charge of the memory so that the experience can be safely discussed, digested, and stripped of the power that ultimately triggers anxiety and avoidance. Clients can expect to experience some level of emotional and physical discomfort while recalling distressing memories. EMDR is based on the so-called Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model and is said to directly target the way a distressing memory is stored in the brain. EMDR can also take several sessions to work, though you could notice some improvement after your first session. Please note, though, I a specialize in this modality and the others mentioned so I am experienced in combining modalities to fit the client's needs and make therapy a healing journey. You might find the beginning of therapy triggers some emotional distress and discomfort, especially if you’re just starting to deal with traumatic events. But since EMDR doesn’t require you to talk about the trauma at length or spend extensive time thinking about it, it may feel less overwhelming than other approaches used to treat trauma. Keep in mind that I am a trained professional and can help you find your path toward recovery if it is determined that EMDR is right for you.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
As a professional that uses an eclectic or integrative approach with clients, I find of Solution-focused therapy (SFT), a goal-directed collaborative approach to psychotherapeutic change that is conducted through direct observation of every single one of my clients' responses to a series of precisely constructed questions. Solution-focused brief therapy can be helpful for a variety of issues including anxiety, depression, self-esteem, relationship issues and coping with changes in life. It will help you, or any couple, number of family members, or groups to recover from whatever obstacle or issue is impacting one's daily functioning; so as to provide a different perspective that will lead to objectivity and empowerment.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
For client's that require a more intensive approach for outside influences such as dependency, I utilize Acceptance and commitment therapy, as a form of psychotherapy or analysis. It is an empirically based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies along with commitment and behavior-change strategies to increase psychological flexibility. ACT helps the client to focus on how you may have used substances to avoid or numb unwanted or distressing internal experiences. ACT will help you explore the impact of the outside influence on your ability to create a meaningful or purpose-driven life. learn to accept and tolerate emotional pain without numbing or avoiding it. ACT is a powerful modality in that it helps the individual find empowerment without dependence on outside sources, but of one's inner strength.