Hello, my name is Takiyah Thomas Licensed Mental Health Counselor LMHC based in Florida with 4 years of experience. I want to start affirming you by saying "You are improving your mental health symptoms every day." I'm stating this because you made the healthy choice to seek therapy. As your therapist I will always be on the lookout for strengths and empowering tools that I can use to keep you motivated to stay the course. Why? Because many times our maladaptive responses to our mental health symptoms form habits that require motivation and practice to unlearn. I will be there every step of the way to encourage you to keep moving forward. You got this, but it's nice to have your own personal cheerleader encouraging you and believing in you.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session together, you can expect to spend one hour with a therapist who wants to hear your story. As I will want to know what treatment approach works best for you. I will need to understand the problems and concerns you are facing. Expect a series of open-ended questions, that feels less like completing an assessment, but more informally. This is your chance to tell your story without anyone giving their opinions or judging your thoughts. I know some people feel leery meeting a therapist for the first time, but the goal is to rapport build so we can begin the journey to freedom.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My greatest strengths based on 4 years of experience, is the ability to not only listen to the words my clients speak, but also hear what is not being said in order to see the bigger picture of their experiences and to better help them. I also maintain a humble approach and will always encourage my clients to communicate their needs in therapy. I empower myself by practicing assertive communication and encourage my clients to do the same. Once rapport is established, transparency will be an essential ingredient for optimal progress.
About Takiyah Thomas
Specializes in
Serves ages
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VirtualMy treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I love using CBT as an effective intervention when I have observed that my clients have been stuck in a maladaptive thinking pattern, that has influenced the way they have responded to life's challenges. I will provide you with support and coaching in helping you develop a more balanced way of thinking. Balanced thinking helps us to regulate our emotions and also influences our responses to life surprises in a way that propels us forward and gets us unstuck. As my passion is to see my clients free, I am not afraid of holding my clients accountable once the therapeutic alliance has been established.
Daialectical Behavior (DBT)
I love incorporating DBT in the therapeutic process in order to help clients increase their awareness of the emotions they experience without judgement and help them accept that emotions are an integral part of our very existence and deserve to be validated. We will also discover effective ways to cope with these emotions, which is very important for someone who struggles with hyper arousal symptoms. Once we have the skills to identify what we are feeling, DBT provides the support to effectively communicate these feelings to others when appropriate and cope with less distress. I find people very interesting and am inspired by the creative coping methods my clients have chosen over the years, providing they're not harmful of course.
Psychodynamic
In my experience working with clients, I've heard the expression, "Why does this keep happening?" I love using the Psychodynamic approach to tap into the root cause. Our subconscious influences how we think and feel, which is why it is beneficial to have someone there to support you in identifying the maladaptive pattern. Once the therapeutic relationship has been established, we will explore historical events to help bring understanding and develop self-compassion which, produces freedom from the oppression and conflict in our minds.