LCSW, 8 years of experience
New to Grow
My name is Grace Johnson, and I am an LCSW in Pennsylvania. I have been practicing therapy for over 6 years, and prior to that I worked in case management for several years. I have worked in various outpatient mental health and substance use disorder settings, and I have experience with both individual and group therapy. In addition to being a therapist, I am also a clinical supervisor. I bring a wealth of experience from my time working in the social work field that make me uniquely able to provide a safe and therapeutic environment for us to work together. I am passionate about helping survivors of trauma heal with my utilization of modalities such as EMDR and Seeking Safety. I am also well-versed in CBT, DBT, and Motivational Interviewing-all of which involve discussing what you are experiencing and learning strategies to cope with them and make changes to improve your life as you so desire.
In our first session, I'll spend some time gathering information about what is bringing you to therapy today and a bit of a history about the problem and about yourself in general. We don't need to get into every detail, but enough to paint a broad picture of what your life is looking like right now. We'll spend some time getting to know each other and I'll go over a bit about myself and my therapy approaches. I'll review some policies and procedures to make sure you understand what I expect from you, and answer any questions you may have so you know what to expect from me.
One of my greatest strengths is the versatility of my experience, as over the course of my career I've worked with individuals from a multitude of backgrounds. This sets me apart in my ability to engage and connect with people in a strengths-based way that encourages trust and allows people to grow and feel safe in our work together. I am very flexible in my approach and can bring many different ideas and interventions to our sessions to best meet your needs. I like to keep things real and relatable in our sessions, often using real-life examples and metaphors to better illustrate concepts in an easy to digest manner.
My ideal client that I am best positioned to serve is a person who is motivated to attend treatment and work on their goals. I work well with individuals who are able to engage in therapy in a meaningful way in order to build a strong foundation for a therapeutic relationship, which will allow us to delve into painful topics that are causing distress. Therapy works best when my clients are able to build trust in me and have an open mindset to try new skills (both in session and in homework between sessions), and also trust that even if the work is challenging, the feeling will not last forever and the work will lead to better results. I also believe that within the therapeutic relationship, you should feel you can talk with me about any questions and concerns as they may arise so that we can work together to tailor treatment to best meet your needs.
I am trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), an evidence-based therapeutic intervention to process and heal from trauma. I use EMDR with individuals who have experienced traumatic events to reprocess said events and reduce symptoms of suffering. Once we get to know each other and we have established a foundation of safety in our sessions, I can help you explore the event or events you want to reprocess in a structured manner per the EMDR standardized treatment protocol.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is often considered the "gold standard" of interventions for individuals experiencing a variety of mental health diagnoses such as anxiety, depression, and others. After we discuss what is happening in your life that is bringing you to therapy, I will help you explore the connections between your beliefs, thoughts, behaviors, and consequences and utilize strategies to combat unhelpful thought patterns that can help you make meaning of events in your life in a more realistic way.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is all about exploring change and our relationship with it. I use MI in all of my sessions as therapy at its core is about change-whether it involves processing change or trying to make a change. I will help you explore the factors that impact your stage of change and ensure that the work we are doing is aligned with your values and goals.
Although Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is built a lot on CBT core principles, it has the added benefit of mindfulness. It is about combining our logical part of our brain with the emotional part of our brain in order to make wise choices. I use DBT skills to help you to manage your mental pain and distress, which will allow us to then work on coping skills to improve your daily life.
Although there are many situations where I will use a specific intervention to the letter, in general I use an eclectic approach to my sessions. This means that I am going to bring elements of multiple interventions into our sessions based on what I clinically feel will be most beneficial to you.