I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Master's degree in Social Work. I have worked extensively with adults, children, and families. I am licensed in the State of Georgia at the clinical level. I have over 30 years of experience working with adults, children and families. My career has given me the ability to provide individual, group and family therapy to a wide variety of individuals who have been experiencing various mental health conditions. My areas of expertise include: stress, anxiety and depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, grief and loss, family/relationship issues and personal growth. In therapy I strive to foster trusting, supportive relationships in a confidential and non-judgmental environment, helping individuals draw upon their innate strengths in order to develop new coping skills.
I will need to know why you’re seeking therapy. I may ask what kinds of needs or issues you’d like to address in your treatment together as well as what you’ve done to manage your mental health in the past. I'll want to talk through what worked and what didn’t to get an understanding of how best to help you. As a secondary part of understanding what you need from therapy, I may ask some of the following questions: Have you attended therapy in the past? What are your symptoms? Do you have any mental health issues in your family history? How is your home life? What do you hope to get from therapy? What do you want to accomplish in sessions?
I have these Skills & Qualities as a therapist: * Strong communication skills * Patience * Compassion and open-mindedness * Trustworthiness
I utilize Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) which is a short-term goal-focused evidence-based therapeutic approach, which incorporates positive psychology principles and practices, and which helps clients change by constructing solutions rather than focusing on problems. In the most basic sense, SFBT is a hope friendly, positive emotion eliciting, future-oriented vehicle for formulating, motivating, achieving, and sustaining desired behavioral change.
I utilize Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) which is a structured, goal-oriented type of psychotherapy (talk therapy). I use it to treat or manage mental health conditions and emotional concerns. It’s one of the most common and best-studied forms of psychotherapy. CBT is based on several core principles, including: Psychological issues are partly based on problematic or unhelpful patterns of thinking. Psychological issues are partly based on learned patterns of unhelpful behavior. Psychological issues are partly based on problematic core beliefs, including central ideas about yourself and the world. People experiencing psychological issues can learn better ways of coping with them. This can help relieve their symptoms and improve their mental and emotional health.