LCSW, 3 years of experience
Hi! I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) based in Florida, and I graduated from the University of West Florida with a Master's of Social Work (MSW) in 2019. I have worked in a community healthcare setting for the entirety of my career beginning in 2017, which has given me the opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds and with varying life stressors.
In our first session together, we will spend time getting to know each other and getting used to the flow of sessions. We will take the first few minutes to discuss confidentiality, other formalities, any questions you may have before spending the rest of the session discussing what is most important to you. Things may feel awkward at first, but this will fade as we build a relationship and trust. I will ask some questions about your past and your present life, but you are free to discuss as much or as little about any topic. We may start discussing goals and developing a treatment plan during our first session, or we may use the entire session to discuss your history or process recent stressors.
My greatest asset as a provider is my belief that each person has unique strengths and struggles. My life experiences have shown me the importance of acceptance and empathy, and this allows me to see people for more than their background or their diagnoses.
I love working with people that are seeking change in their life, even if that change feels impossible or far out of reach. If you are willing to take small steps each week to head toward big changes, then we will make a great team on that journey together.
CBT can be useful for examining depression/anxiety/trauma/stress triggers and their effects on your thoughts, emotions, and actions. We can use CBT to promote better connection between the rational and emotional parts of your brain and body. This can include techniques such as Socratic questioning, cognitive reframing, mindfulness skills training, and journaling. CBT is an all-around framework with a solid evidence base, but can sometimes come across as cold or too intellectual. I prefer to take a warmer and down-to-earth approach where we work through difficult thoughts and emotions together in a non-judgmental atmosphere at a comfortable pace.
Our lives are filled with motivations and decisions that are influenced by multiple factors, many outside of our control. We are constantly juggling hundreds of tasks in our daily lives while still trying to work toward larger, long-term goals. Motivational Interviewing is a framework to identify the changes you want to see in your life along with the barriers you may face on a regular basis. Different areas of our lives are often in different stages of change, and working through those stages can lead to short-term and long-term success and fulfillment.
Life's obstacles and barriers can be overwhelming, and trying to discuss solutions can sometimes feel daunting or out of reach. I believe we can work toward solutions to life's challenges while still taking time to process the emotional toll those challenges often take. Using this approach alongside Motivational Interviewing and CBT, we can work together to determine the most important and achievable areas in your life while still addressing the difficult thoughts and emotions along the way.