LCSW, 8 years of experience
Change can be scary, but it doesn't have to be. We all face situations throughout life that can make us feel overwhelmed and in need of support, encouragement, strategic planning or goal setting. You are not alone. I provide a safe, warm and friendly environment for growth and healing. You may need support in family life transitions, a parent-child relationship, peers groups, marriage, divorce, social issues, academic challenges or behavioral issues. While we are working together, I take a collaborative approach to help you to achieve your goals and overcome the challenges you're facing in life. I am here to support and empower you on your personal journey. Recognizing when issues in life have become too much to handle alone and seeking assistance is a great first step on your healing journey. It takes a lot of courage to reach out to someone, so I applaud you on taking that first huge step.
Our first session would be me getting to know you by asking about what brought you to therapy, a brief overview of your life story, your current concerns, and what you hope to achieve through therapy. I will also explain my approach and discuss confidentiality and allowing you to share openly about your situation. I want to know about your expectations from therapy. Let's see if we are a fit!
I feel I have great communication skills, genuine empathy, strong patient-centered approach, ability to build rapport, excellent listening skills, proactive problem-solving, adaptability to different situations, commitment, and a collaborative attitude with each client.
I specialize in working with infants, young children, adolescents, teens, young adults and their families. As a former Infant and Toddler teacher, Infant & Child Mental Health Consultant, and a Child and Youth Behavioral Counselor serving Pre-k to 5th grade elementary students, working within the classroom settings, fueled my understanding of children’s behaviors, struggles and how each of these affect the family system. My areas of expertise include parenting, emotional and behavioral disorders, stress-related issues, anxiety, and depression among many others. Working with at risk youth has fueled my passion to create a safe space to begin healing for those that have never been heard before. Veterans and military families hold a special place in my heart due to those closest to me who have served and still serving. I have experience working with Veterans and their families.
A collaborative approach that focuses on goals in the current and short-term future as opposed to the past. We will collaboratively find solutions instead of dwelling on problems.
Let's focus on your strengths and capabilities instead of failures or weaknesses. Your words you tell yourself matter.
Let's avoid misinformation and feel empowered to take on an active role in your treatment. Learn about your mental health and mental illness. It can provide education on how to develop coping skills to manage your symptoms and provides information on any additional resources that you could benefit from.
Want to learn how to identify your negative thoughts and feelings? Each session we work to break down your problems into their separate parts, such as your thoughts, physical feelings and actions. That is when we will analyze these areas to work out if they're unrealistic or unhelpful, and to determine the effect they have on each other and on you. That is when we will be able to help you work out how to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. After working out what you can change, I will will ask you to practice these changes in your daily life and you'll discuss how you got on during the next session. The goal is to have you managing your problems and stop them having a negative impact on your life, even after your course of treatment finishes.
I have completed Weekend One of EMDR Basic Training. I am actively working toward EMDR certification in the future. I am learning to apply the standard eight-phase protocol for trauma reprocessing, conceptualize cases using the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, conduct specialized history taking, develop treatment plans, use bilateral stimulation, and implement stabilization techniques to help clients process traumatic memories and reduce associated distress.