Katarina Matolek is fully booked.
Hello there! Are you seeking empowerment, fulfillment, or healing from past trauma? I provide a safe space to accompany you on a journey of self-discovery. I believe in the interconnectedness of our minds, bodies, spirits, and relationships, and I address each of these personal facets to help you emerge holistically. My therapeutic style draws from various approaches, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), attachment therapy approach, and Brainspotting (BSP). I value the relational aspect of psychotherapy, and with my guided questions, you will be invited to find your answers to improve your sense of self and deepen your connection with yourself and others. I hold a CA license to practice psychotherapy as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT 105889. In CA, I see clients via Telehealth (Zoom.)
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session together, we'll start with brief introductions, then dive into the specific challenges you're facing and goals you wish to set for yourself. This will help me create a tailored plan for us to work through in follow-up sessions.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
Whatever your needs may be, regardless of your age, or your personal narrative, it would be an honor for me to assist you in healing and discovering how to thrive. I see myself as your ally, ready to accompany you through your journey until we navigate it together. My aim is to offer you a secure, empathetic environment where we can collaborate in exploring your inner self, articulating your thoughts, and embracing the entire range of your emotions and body sensations.
About Katarina Matolek
Serves ages
Licensed in
Accepts cash
Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Attachment-based
Our early experiences with our primary caregivers have a profound impact on the adults we become. Attachment-based psychotherapy aims to address the negative effects of these early experiences and to strengthen our ability to form secure relationships and make positive choices in life. The therapist begins by establishing a supportive therapeutic relationship with the client, creating a sense of security. Within this relationship, the therapist helps the client to express and explore the emotions, perceptions, and behaviors that may have been suppressed in past relationships. This process enables the client to communicate more openly and authentically, leading to greater emotional resilience and more constructive ways of thinking and behaving in their daily life.
Brainspotting
Brainspotting therapy is an alternative therapy that utilizes specific points in a person’s visual field to help them process trauma stored in the subcortical brain. This part of the brain controls emotion, consciousness, and learning. In 2003, David Grand, PhD, discovered this type of therapy as an extension of his work in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy after noticing a client becoming "stuck" in a particular spot. Observing the client delve more deeply than ever while in that spot led to the birth of Brainspotting. One of the purported advantages of Brainspotting therapy over EMDR is that individuals do not need to “relive” the trauma to facilitate its release from the body.
EMDR
EMDR therapy involves working through eight phases, all aimed at maximizing the effectiveness of the treatment: 1. Gathering history and planning treatment: The therapist evaluates the client's history and determines which traumatic memories to address. 2. Preparation: Ensuring the client has coping mechanisms to manage emotional distress effectively. 3. Assessment: Identifying the specific visual imagery related to the memory, negative self-beliefs, and associated emotions and physical sensations. 4. Desensitization: Focusing on the client's distressing images, thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations while engaging in EMDR processing using bilateral stimulation, often through side-to-side eye movements. 5. Installation: Recognizing and reinforcing positive beliefs to replace the client's original negative beliefs. 6. Body scan: Asking the client to recall the memory and observe any remaining bodily tension. 7. Closure: Restoring the client to a state of balance, ensuring they leave each session feeling better than when they arrived. 8. Reevaluation: At the beginning of subsequent sessions, the therapist evaluates progress and ensures that the positive results have been sustained. Throughout these phases, clients not only work through their traumatic memories but also cultivate their internal strengths, fostering resilience against future stress.
Grief Therapy
Grief counseling offers professional support to help individuals navigate the complex emotions and stages that follow a loss. People experience grief in unique ways, but the commonly recognized stages include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Additionally, finding meaning is a crucial aspect of the grieving process. It's essential to recognize that there's no universal path for grief. Each person experiences it differently, with reactions varying from shock and disbelief to anxiety and periods of sadness. Physical effects such as loss of appetite and sleep disturbances are also common during this time.
Psychodynamic
I recently came across some fascinating new research published by the American Psychological Association, which suggests that psychodynamic psychotherapy can effectively treat a wide range of mental health symptoms. These include depression, anxiety, panic, and stress-related physical ailments. What's more, the benefits of this therapy seem to continue to grow even after the treatment has ended. Psychodynamic therapy strongly emphasizes exploring the psychological roots of emotional suffering. It involves self-reflection and self-examination, using the therapeutic relationship to uncover problematic relationship patterns in the patient’s life. The ultimate goal of this therapy is not just to alleviate the most obvious symptoms but to help individuals lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.