LCSW, 5 years of experience
“All of us live only a few days and have a lot of trouble.” Throughout our lives we face loss, grief, anxiety, depression, anger, and a host of other negative experiences that impact our lives. During these difficult challenges, we can struggle to return to a “normal” level of functioning. It’s at those times we need to reach out to those with the skills to assist us. As a Licensed Clinical Social worker, I am committed to providing support and guidance to help individuals navigate this pathway. I emphasize importance of addressing habits, hurts, and hang-ups to foster mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual growth and healing. In order to facilitate change and growth, I employ different treatment methods including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy to address an array of mental health issues.
The therapeutic journey begins before our first session. I have found, in my private practice, it is extremely helpful and necessary for the client to provide as much history as they can about their past and current struggles. This gives our first session a sense of direction and makes creating a tailored plan much easier and more focused. During our first session, we will start with brief introductions, then dive into the specific challenges they are facing. With the information gained from the client history form and clarifying questions asked during the initial session, the client can expect one of a few outcomes. Either the client will be given a diagnosis and receive their personalized care plan or they will be given a diagnosis and referred to a therapist that is better suited to address their mental health needs.
Previous clients have stated I am empathetic, caring, and a good listener. I strive to connect with my clients to provide a solutions-focused and goal-orientated approach to improve the client’s overall life-functioning. I believe my life experience, education, and military training provide me with a set of unique skills to better understand the struggles clients face in their day to day lives.
I believe mental health should be approached with the same level of importance one would give their physical health as I have seen a correlation between the two in my years of private practice. I have experience working with children, teens, adults, and senior citizens dealing with anxiety, depression, and trauma as well as with daily life struggles. Because of my time in the military, I have a special heart and focus on working with Veterans and their families.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a treatment method that addresses the connections between thoughts, feelings/emotions, and behaviors and how they impact each other. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on learning to change one’s negative thought patterns. I have utilized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in my practice when discussing resilience and automatic thoughts. Learning to to change one’s thoughts begins to change one’s emotions which in turn can result in change in one’s behavior.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy falls under the Cognitive Behavior Therapy umbrella. While Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on one’s thoughts, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is focused more on emotional regulation. This includes focusing on coping skills and de-escalation techniques including utilizing mindfulness, deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxations and guided imagery. I have utilized the afore mentioned techniques in my private practice with an array of mental health disorders.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is “a collaborative, person-centered form of guiding to elicit and strengthen motivation for change.” Motivational Interviewing assists a client in working through ambivalence and focusing on change that is congruent with their own values. Communication is a key part of Motivational Interviewing. Because open communication and transparency is key with Motivational Interviewing, I utilize open-ended questions, affirmations, and reflections when working with clients in the therapeutic setting.
I define Mindfulness Based therapy as a how and not a what treatment method. When I utilize Mindfulness, I focus on the here and now: what can I see, hear, taste, touch, or smell. Mindfulness is utilizing the five senses to regulate emotions including de-escalating when one is upset. It is intentionally and continually focusing the mind on the present.
I provide Christian counseling to those who are interested in that form of therapy. While I do provide the Christian principles, they are utilized in conjunction with evidence based practices such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.